


Dark Paradise

by BreviaryRose



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, F/M, Katy Perry - Freeform, Romance, Suspense, lokane - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-30
Updated: 2015-01-20
Packaged: 2018-01-26 19:36:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 51,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1700057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BreviaryRose/pseuds/BreviaryRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki barely escapes New York alive and goes into hiding as a wolf scavenging around Alaska in order to regain strength. Just when he'd nearly lost everything, he crosses paths with Jane, who is solemnly up to no good with a new lead to research. </p><p> </p><p>-- Lokane; Post-Avengers</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. When We Run

**Author's Note:**

> Major author's note!
> 
> THIS STORY USED TO BE CALLED "GHOST OF ME"!
> 
> So, this story has been abandoned for too long! My notes for the rest of the story were wiped off of my hard drive somehow, but I've recently had a spark of interest in this story again! I'm going to edit all of the chapters, first, because, let's face it, this story before the edits was tremendously OOC! It makes me cringe at some points at the dialogue!
> 
> Another complaint I seem to have with my own story is that there is a lack of Sif & Thor in this story. Although she does appear much later in the story, she's never properly dealt with. On the subject of dealing with things, there will be a more seamless Thor & Jane reunion. To me, everything occurred way too quickly: until now!
> 
> Everything will be fixed soon! Just continue to be patient. There will be things taken out, things added, and things restructured into the story. Thank you for your continued interest in this story!
> 
> REVIEW PLEASE?

**__— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _— _— _—____ _ **

**_Dark Paradise_ by Lana Del Rey**

_And there's no remedy for memory, your face is like a melody,_  
 _It won't leave my head; your soul is haunting me  
_ _And telling me that everything is fine; but I wish I was dead—dead like you._

_Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise_  
 _No one compares to you. I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side._

_There's no relief; I see you in my sleep._  
 _And everybody's rushing me, but I can feel you touching me_  
 _There's no release; I feel you in my dreams telling me I'm fine._

_Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise_  
 _No one compares to you. I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side._

_— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _ _  
__

**Chapter 1**

Jane's brows pulled down toward her nose. She was lost.  _Really_  lost.

Fumbling with the state-of-the-art GPS handheld, she realized the flaw in such a state-of-the-art technology: there was no such thing.

Stopping, Jane cursed as she slapped the small device once more before throwing across the snowy basin. Withdrawing her map, Jane found her relative position and studied the article based on latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates. She was at least three miles away.

"Absolutely ridiculous."

Sighing, Jean cupped her hand to act as a visor over her eyes, scanning her surroundings. According to the map, she needed to meander through a small forest and over one smaller mountain before reaching her destination.

Alaska, so far, wasn't such a great idea, she reflected.

Her purpose was to find any connection between the aurora borealis and wormholes. Based off the events in New York and the people who literally kept her prisoner, Jane concluded that she could no longer be in the so-called civilized world. Continuing her research in Alaska aided that tremendously.

One month! One  _month_! She'd been held on an Island off the coast of Norway _—the_  most bitter place on this earth. Jane Foster _—_ astrophysicist for all intents and purposes _—_ was prone to enjoying heat. Jane hated the cold, yet she couldn't quite escape such climates.

The scientist hadn't ever appreciated being whisked away without her consent! But that is exactly what Nick Fury had ordered. At least in confinement, she'd picked up invaluable information.

SHIELD planned on using the Tesseract for nuclear arms to defend humans from future attacks. SHIELD thought that such a weapon would successfully deter attacks from the other realms, but Jane knew that it would only draw unwanted attention to Earth. For example: Loki's invasion.

So, here Jane was, lost among a white, fluffy hell.

Well, she had nowhere else to go.

But that didn't mean that she had to be happy about being there.

She knew that New Mexico would be the first place they would look for her: followed by New York and London. They were aware of her brief encounter (for that is all she could label it for now) with Thor, so she couldn't go look for him, despite wanting nothing more.

Jane briefly sat down, taking a sip of water when she really could have used a strong drink to burn her throat and worries away.

Later.

Nick Fury himself had seized her in the middle of the desert upon Loki entering this world. He instructed a regime to take her to a facility burrowed in the middle of nowhere near civilization.

She was contained in a small, square room with an exposed toilet, a small bed, and one bookshelf filled with just three novels: the  _Bible_ , Shakespeare's  _Hamlet_ , and Mary Shelley's  _Frankenstein_. _  
_

Most days she wasn't allowed to do anything or go anywhere. Some days, she would visit the exciting space called the cafeteria when she wasn't brought food.

Cringing, she resorted to humming in order to stop thinking about her time in containment.

Jane folded the map back up and gently placed it back in her satchel, grabbing her collar to pull her hood over her head. She exhaled roughly and started toward the woods.

Daylight wasn't threatening to settle in the west for at least another few hours, so she decided to take her pace slow, casually glancing around to see if she was stepping into dangerous territory.

Upon entering the forest, the treetops censored the sunlight out, giving the air a bitterness unknown to even this time of year. Shivering, she continued, stepping cautiously to avoid any holes in the deep snow.

A violent gust of wind carried through as Jane stood against a nearby tree. Her skin tightened, and she felt her heart freeze.

Her lungs ceased its basic functions. Jane began to panic.

Jane closed her eyes while drawing in a deep, calming breath—knives against the organs the air touched. "Get over this, Jane," she chided herself.

A nearby branch fell, stifling the eerie silence. Jane's pulse charged.

Rushing out from the tree trunk's support, Jane rounded the corner and her and erased further thought.

Gasping, Jane fought the urge to run even though the marrow in her bones struggled against her motionless form.

Growling, a pure black wolf—defiant against the raging wind—readied itself for attack before her. Its coat resembled noble obsidian marble rather than a dingy coal texture. The animal's eyes glistened a soft, lonesome mixture of shades ranging from bright mint to faint periwinkle. Despite the wondrous, terrifying, and majestic predator readying itself in front of her, she was able to notice a slight limp in its right hind leg.

Jane's gaze seemed to snatch away the creature's resolve of attacking. Simultaneously, Jane and the ebony wolf fought for control of the other's regard.

Taking a bold step toward the animal, Jane brought up a finger and fixed it over the scrutinizing, growling wolf.

"Do me a favor," she began, the uneasy waver drifting away with the passing current. Exhaling, Jane lifted her finger up once and lowered it authoritatively, "and forget momentarily that you're a carnivore."

When the wolf noticeably would not warrant her anything aside from an earth-shattering howl, Jane maintained her position, taking a step forward as her chin rose slightly, "For what it's worth, I'm probably poisoned by all of the vaccinations I was given back at the SHIELD confinement."

Never once breaking their heated stare, she humbly accepted the wheels turning in her head. "Yeah," she continued, her other hand traveling the length of her arm, moving fluidly from her shoulder to her wrist, "I'm not even in shape! No meat to my bones and hardly any fat. I won't even taste as satisfying as your instincts tell you."

Seeing the anger fade slightly from the multi-dimensional hues of the hunter-wolf, Jane took another step toward the animal. "This is all such a mess. I just want to continue my work alone in the middle of nowhere."

She needed to find a way for herself to understand how Thor didn't fight for a way to see her, too . . . among other reason.

Noticing a shift from vengeance to intrigue dwindle about the wolf's intent stare, Jane lowered to kneel on one knee as she was only five feet away from the elegant beast. Jane lowered her pointed finger so that both hands remained by her sides.

"I realize that this is probably your hunting territory. But with all of the things I have seen—and all of the things I have not **—** I'm begging you to just spare me," she said, attempting to reason with a being that couldn't understand her.

Hesitantly, the black beast strutted toward her and halted at precisely an arm's reach away. For a moment, Jane could only admire the cosmic detail the creature proffered her notice. Deducing the creature was waiting rather than sizing up his meal, she cautiously extended her gloved hand toward him, but the wolf did not move.

Raising her left brow, her features molded a perplexed expression.

Suddenly, the wolf moved toward her steady hand, its teeth peeling the glove from her hand, the frost nipping at her fingertips instantly. The wolf let go of the glove, the article carelessly fading with the white wind in the distance.

Jane's eyes never left the beast's as he leaned into her touch, palm to snout, briefly before moving away from her and walking toward the direction she needed to head.

Despite her fingers shivering chaotically, Jane knelt dazedly in her spot, looking at the retreating form of the obsidian beast.

"So much for father's gloves," was all she muttered before walking hastily behind the curious animal toward the direction she hoped the cabin would be.

A piece of her curious nature wondered if the beast had understood her. And, if so, how?

**__— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _— _— _—____ _ **

The black wolf hadn't come within ten feet of her vicinity since the almost-attack back in the woods. Presently, he lay by the glowing remnants of the fire Jane started hours before.

Well into the evening, Jane plucked up both of the plates—one on the floor and hers from the heavy table—used for their meal she'd prepared for the both of them and moved to the sink, running the sponge over the smooth surfaces twice.

Sighing, she placed her palms on the edge of the sink and lifted her head up to view the white ceiling. Her eyes had been heavy the whole night, but there was no explanation.

She was just melancholy.

The den had many interesting novels, including a few of Jane Austen's classics. There were a few others, too, but not much else that looked appealing. Earlier in the main bedroom, she'd located a book of the Norse gods and mythology.

The scientist ruled our studying the other novels upon this discovery. Norse mythology indeed had some relevance to her purpose here.

A deep, hollow void festered against her belly, and she walked back to the large sofa in the living area, snuggling into the soft fleece throw.

Her hot chocolate had long since cooled, the frosty conditions eroding the heat away like the ocean water against basalt rock. Reaching for the leather-bound book, Jane avidly searched through the index to find Thor.

Displayed upon the left page, an inscription appeared below a large drawing of the god of thunder. Before skimming over the words, her fingers naturally traced the outline of the photo, admiring the familiarity it brought to her.

Below the photo, she read,  _An ideal depiction of what all human warriors strived to compare to, Thor, god of thunder, was a valiant warrior known for his courage, loyalty, and honor. He was a primary defender of Asgard and other Aesir gods. Since the Bronze Age, he served the people of Midgard as the foremost deity of warriors and military strength._

No mention of holding promises, she snidely added. Rolling her eyes, she swiped at the few shed tears and sighed. She shivered slightly and placed the book on her lap.

_He didn't come for me upon Loki's short reign of terror across New York,_  she reminded herself. Never once had he called or wrote while her when he was conspiring with SHIELD. Surely, he could have found five minutes? She'd spent so many months searching for him and a way to get him back to her after he vanished from her side as quick as he joined it.

Never once had she given up—until after New York. Even now, she hadn't received word of his seeking her out.

So many opportunities to continue her work were forfeited in order to find a way back to him. Perhaps she could have been the one to be working closely with the Tesseract, instead of her mentor, Erik Selvig.

Usually, she upheld understanding toward others. No one single person was capable of devoting all of their time to another person. They had lives, too.

But Thor had severely hurt her in his lie.

Maybe he thought to seek her out when everything went back to normal. Maybe he really thought Loki would seek her out and kill her for his connection to her.

Or maybe he no longer cared.

The thought sunk into her soul and allowed bitterness to seep through. She had truly cared about him. In only their three days together, Jane had felt partially complete around him.

Thor had given her validation to her life's research. He'd given her feelings she never thought possible for someone as awkward as herself. He gave her hope during a dark peak in her life where none could be found.

He'd made her feel alive, made her truly believe in his promise, because he'd defeated the Destroyer in order to save a town he had no connection or responsibility to.

He was kind, gentle, honest (for the most part), and allowed her to believe in something else other than her work. She'd been inspired.

And she was never inspired by anything new or not related to science. Jane was not a romantic whatsoever. She thrived on facts and figures.

They'd only have a dash of chemistry. Nothing else. The scientist risked everything in order for him to regain his godlike powers and strength. He would not be able to save New York had they never met. He told her that she was the reason he fought now. He wanted to keep her safe.

Perhaps if they hadn't ever met, Loki would never have somehow defaced New York in the first place.

Biting her lip, she shook her head. She and relationships were hopeless.

She had no soul mate in any of the nine realms Thor had mentioned. After all, not even the god of thunder thought her to be important enough.

"Sometimes I wish he never had to go back . . . that Loki never sent the Destroyer and simply left us alone. Maybe then we could have had a small chance," she idly mused aloud, selfish in the thoughts of what could have been.

Her efforts were fruitless. She could start from scratch on her old research. She could try to steal it back. Hell, she could stay here for the rest of time and never research anything ever again.

It wouldn't be too hard to retrieve her life's work. The only problem was that she didn't know where to find it. It could be anywhere. But was it? Jane was sure that they'd commissioned Erik to use it against her. Could he also be involved in using the Tesseract for nuclear power?

He was the only other person who would be able to decipher her codes and linguistics placed in her notes for her research's protection. After all, what did SHIELD plan on using the Tesseract for if they would not possess the power of utilizing the wormholes?

Jane sighed.

But life had to go on.

So she would learn to live without real purpose. She'd never been frivolous, but she could learn to be.

Glancing back over the book, Jane picked it up and flipped back to the index—seeking out Loki.

She found herself interested in how such a loved person could fall to such a depth of evil.

Needing to eradicate the silence, Jane gazed down at the rather comical drawing of the god of mischief. " _Best known for the death of Baldur, Loki is known to be one to completely disregard the well-being of his kin and is a scheming coward who cares only for his shallow pleasures and self-preservation_ ," she spoke softly.

"Nothing adds up where he is concerned. His brother had nothing but great things to say about him in the three days he was a mortal. He even said that he deserved the throne. There must be something that happened that kept Thor away from me for so long and that caused Loki to fall astray the path of morality," she retorted, throwing the book across the room.

She was furious.

Was Loki so bad? He once possessed the full loyalty of Thor and Odin. Yet he destroys New York. He once was a prince of Asgard, a revered and proud realm. But he still defied his loving brother.

She hadn't received the full package of details about this Loki, but something just wasn't right—like the information she had was only superficial and not substantial.

_None of the information made any sense!_ It was like she had the answer, but were missing both values that equated to the sum.

She needed to know the whole story. She hoped one day she'd get to hear it. According to the last report she'd heard, he was somewhere on the run—severely injured, however.

That meant he couldn't have gone too far; but, she didn't know what he was capable of.

Glancing up, Jane saw the wolf sitting before her precisely five feet away, staring and observing. Leaning over, careful not to move too close, Jane remained quiet.

She returned his blank stare and took the time to admire his clear, dimensional light eyes.

"You must really be unsocial. Since you can't respond, I'm going to assume that someone did something to wrong you? Maybe your pack? I realize how mad I must be for conversing with a wild animal..." she started, her mouth forming a warm smile.

Pulling at the fleece throw over her body, she continued slowly, "If I could have just one power...well, that's technically not a fair statement, since I am somewhat of a selfish human being. I couldn't settle for just _one._ Rather, hypothetically, a beneficial ability to possess would be the ability to read people's mind. I think that would be interesting enough."

 Jane sighed dramatically. "I just want to meet him," she said aloud as her thoughts were encrypted with flashes of the green-dressed madman.

When the black beast tilted his head ever so slightly, she wanted nothing more than to chance a stroke, but she kept her distance. "Loki. He's been a fascination of mine since a . . . friend of mine first told me about him. I mean I  _have_ seen him on t.v., but I want to  _physically_ have him before me. I have so many questions.

"Thor spoke so highly of him, though. He's this grand mystery, but unfortunately, I can't meet him. He's out destroying the world and pissing the Avengers off to have time to answer personal questions for little, ol' me," she finished.

The wolf simply continued to stare at her and took one step backward, his eyes narrowing. "Do you understand me at all?" she questioned. A part of her still didn't believe this creature was the beast he physically presented before her eyes. Something in his hues sent her to a peaceful, yet lonesome space. She'd never recalled a wolf, let any alone animal, to have such dazzling eyes.

Of course, the wolf absently sat before her. Chuckling softly, she brought both of her hands together and began to pick at one of her fingernails. Her heart felt empty. Looking up, eyes glistening in the low flickering ember-lit room, she whispered helplessly, "It would be so nice if you could at least know half of what I feel."

"Everyone says how lucky I am to have captured the attention of a god, let alone an Avenger," she continued, pausing to catch the frog at her throat, "I must be a truly selfish person, but it's not enough. I'm not enough. Honestly, I don't think I'm enough for anyone. Even my mother would agree, sadly." Humor clung to her tongue as a wry smile moved over her mouth.

Her voice hitched and became hoarse. Shuttering fingertips covered her mouth and she inhaled and exhaled languidly, catching her breath, "Why couldn't he have come for me? He could have protected me. He could have done something,  _anything_ , but instead I received only a cold distance from him."

Sliding a finger under her eyes, tears ran from her fingertips to her palm. Jane wiped her hands on her jeans. Oddly, she laughed. "I'm truly losing my mind."

Allowing herself to hopelessly laugh at her meager life, her dark eyes captured his, "You may not be able to reply, but you're a great listener. Thank you."

* * *

**_To be continued..._ **

* * *

 


	2. When We Name

**__— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _— _— _—____ _ **

**_Dark Paradise_ by Lana Del Rey**

_And there's no remedy for memory, your face is like a melody,_  
 _It won't leave my head; your soul is haunting me  
_ _And telling me that everything is fine; but I wish I was dead—dead like you._

_Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise_  
 _No one compares to you. I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side._

_There's no relief; I see you in my sleep._  
 _And everybody's rushing me, but I can feel you touching me_  
 _There's no release; I feel you in my dreams telling me I'm fine._

_Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise_  
 _No one compares to you. I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side._

_— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ __  
__

**Chapter 2**

"I  _cannot_  just call you Spot, Blackie, or Wolf," Jane drew as she intently studied the animal. Squinting her eyes, she shifted her brown hues from the wolf's front paws and followed to the back paws—seeking any sort of mark for inspiration. She found nothing.

Hearing a noise from the freezer, she rose from her place on the rug facing the wolf. Presently, she wore a pair of black shorts that barely followed under the shape of her bum and a faded shamrock-toned sweater.

Despite currently being snowed in from the outside, Jane had fixed the generator so she wouldn't freeze.

Jane had given this space by a retired colleague of her father's when she had slipped away quietly from SHIELD by Dr. Nancy Reigner. Nancy had called it a desolate den, but to Jane, the cabin was a palace!

Spread across three floors, the ground level had one bathroom, the kitchen, and a small living den. The second story was two bedrooms and another bathroom. One bedroom was spacious: luxury thrown about the space. The other was small and had no bed.

The last story wasn't actually connected to the cabin, but underneath a rug, there was a dark tunnel that lead to the peak of the mountain neighboring the residence, which also featured an observatory and an advanced laboratory.

Jane found herself giddy with appreciation for such a place every morning she woke.

From where she stood, Jane sighed. "I wish this place didn't have as many unknown creaks and noises," she reflected quietly as she brought one hand to cradle the opposite arm's elbow.

Guiding her gaze over the small mess where the wolf lay and she sat, she bent down and collected the dishes to take them to the sink. Raising the left side of her upper lip, she shrugged, "I'll get to these later."

Disposing the plates and silverware in the depth of the sink, she brought her hands to the countertop, her fingers quietly tracing the fantastic dark marble in awe.

Lines like lightning and thunder cracked through the harsh hue of the surface. Jane felt her expression compress toward her nose, her skin twitching irritably. Somberly, she sighed as reflections of the not-so-distant past queued across her eyes.

Lifting her eyes, Jane fixed her attention on the window, though the expanse of the glass was covered by the angelic frost. Though the ongoing snow obscured the view outside, Jane placed a hand on the frigid glass and her eyes absently closed as her chin lowered.

"I have to get to work," Jane eventually said, turning from the marble to forget about the god of thunder.

Eventually, she threw herself out of thought when something tickled her thigh. Jane shook her head as she glanced down to see that the wolf had come to her without making any noise for her to notice.

Kneeling, Jane was matching the height of the black beast, their eyes transfixing over the others.

In the forgiving, unnatural light of the kitchen, his eyes were lazily mixing the same hues of mint and periwinkle; however, the shades of periwinkle seemed to glimmer while the mint substantially darkened.

Suddenly, she recalled a conversation with her father. Despite the tugging weight at the heart, her eyes danced as they viewed the memory nearly as vividly as if he was standing across the room with her in reality.

She bit her lip, eyes blinking once in unison with the night-shaded animal.

Jane smiled, "Kalt. I'll call you Kalt." Raising her brows, she lowered to both of her knees and stilled her hands in her lap. "Your eyes remind me of a calm winter morning that transcends every wonder throughout the world," she mused while her hands interlaced together absently.

_Her father sat her on the floor._

_"Daddy, when will you be coming back?" the child asked with a frown of disproval._

_The man chuckled playfully, "Very soon, Jane."_

_The girl fiddled with her hands, "Where will you be going this time?"_

_"Iceland, dear. And it's cold there. Very cold."_

_Jane's features was injected with an enthusiasm she only possessed when conjuring another question about a subject she held interest in. "Father, tell me something about that place!"_

_With a light bit of laughter, the older man kissed his daughter lightly, awkwardly. "Well, the only thing I truly know about its background, history, or language is that 'Kalt' means 'cold'."_

"I think it means cold in Icelandic."

Her features relaxed as the wolf seemingly approved by sitting down after stepping once toward her.

Jane smiled and reflected.

_"How on earth did you know how to get here, wolf?" Jane said, her voice dry and trembling._

_The beast gave no indication of knowing what she said, but his indifference to her gave her encouragement to utter a curse._

_She frantically slid her hands together and hoped that the friction would raise her dramatically low body temperature. No such luck. Withdrawing the keys to the cabin before her, her gloved hand reached toward the knob, shivering wildly._

_When the door swung open, the wolf walked past her slowly. Needing warmth and curious to feel his coat, Jane stretched her hand toward him, but the beast turned around to growl._

_"Fine, I won't touch you."_

Smirking, Jane chuckled lowly, "I bet I still can't touch you."

Kalt's eyes narrowed accordingly, snorting.

"I figured."

**__— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _— _— _—____ _ **

"Thor, we need to pursue Loki. Who knows what the man is capable of next?" Romanov reasoned, her black suit feeling more constricting than ever before.

"Loki is weakened and is aware of what we are capable of doing. He is my brother, and, therefore, I will not kill him. Judgment is not mine to pass, That burden belongs to the Allfather," Thor countered, lifting his hammer toward her for emphasis.

The woman rolled her eyes in response.

"Nevermind that, Avengers," Fury began, his arms crossed, "I've received word about Dr. Foster's disappearance from the base off of the coast of Norway. No one has had contact or coordinates over her since she left the airport when my men were ordered to take her back. Dr. Foster is now among our highest priority to locate and protect. Loki already feasted off of Erik Selvig's mind. Who knows how much trouble he'd find if he took over hers."

Tony Stark grunted, "Her disappearance wasn't coincidental, nor a kidnapping by a weakened god of Asgard. She  _ran_  away and even stole a few files . . . or so I've heard."

Steve Rogers fought a disbelieving chuckle, "While I have not had the privilege to meet Dr. Foster, she does seem capable of hiding long enough for us to look for Loki, especially if she can waltz out of a highly guarded SHIELD base with private files."

Frustrated, Thor set his hammer on the tile of the lab and crossed his arms, "I will not allow you to hurt my brother further. Jane is defenseless by herself. No matter that she guided me back to my path while I traversed the realms as a highly misguided boy, Jane has to be protected. Loki knows of how much she means to me. I require knowledge beyond doubt of her safety."

Tilting his head, Tony grunted, "You can be a little too righteous sometimes. And besides, who put you in charge of us?"

Scrunching his features, Thor stepped toward Nick, obviously ignoring the man of iron, "What can we do to protect Jane, Nick Fury?"

Not moving, Fury raised his exposed brow as his eyes darkened a bit, "I believe we will counter this situation from two fronts. When Dr. Banner recovers, he will lead a front in order to find Loki, so we can place him in custody to take him back to Asgard. Thor, you will conduct a search for Jane with the others."

Tony chuckled, "I think we should investigate who else Loki has pissed off. He obviously wasn't working alone in New York."

"SHIELD will handle those affairs," Fury mentioned.

Romanov stepped out and crossed her arms, "No. SHIELD is done handling extraterrestrial affairs. Especially with talk of creating nuclear arms that you witnessed destroying an entire race in a few seconds."

"I don't think you know what we could be dealing with," Fury retorted.

Raising her head, Romanov smirked, her eyes bright with challenge, "Neither do you."

"We cannot separate! This could be Loki's way of trying to regain his strength: sending us on three different trails to divide our collective strength. He made fools of us before," Rogers mentioned, his expression tightening.

Romanov nodded, her head leaning as if considering his words, "I understand that, Rogers, but something must be done. If we move together to finding either Dr. Foster or Loki without looking for the other, we risk one getting hurt or another New York incident."

Thor grunted and lifted a hand to rub his cheek, "I do not think it wise to separate."

Tony shifted his arrogant stance to fit the depth of the subject of discussion, "What if we collectively find out more information about the things Loki may have been working for? Jane can obviously handle herself well enough, and Loki isn't going anywhere without the Tesseract, which is in our custody again. He has no way of rallying another army until he heals from the bitch beating the Hulk gave to him."

"Absolutely," Rogers started, opening his mouth to explain himself.

"-Not!" Thor commanded. "I will not abandon my kin, nor will I place Jane in danger."

Stomping her heel, Romanov groaned, "I have to agree with Stark on this one. If whomever Loki was working with comes here, the entire world will be in danger. This course of action is the greater good, Thor. You know that."

Fury gathered that his input did not matter to the Avengers. He obliged the others with his silence and calculative observation, his arms still crossed. Although they had been brought together, they did not require his guidance anymore.

Thor shouted, balling his hand up and turning to face the glass, "Fine." Then, he walked out to check on Dr. Banner and Clint Barton. Quickly, Fury was called away, too.

As the god of thunder left, Tony lifted his brows, clearly exasperated, "Loki is still dividing us without actually being here. I commend his ability to be thoroughly annoying."

Natasha clasped her hands together and turned to observe the bridge on the helicarrier. Her hips leaned heavily to the left, and her right leg bend at the knee, her heel moving up and down slightly as she privately thought about the happenings in New York.

Steve Rogers boldly walked over to her, standing straight beside her. His eyes slid over to her, observing her in a way that sent her deeper into thought. "What is it, Natasha?"

Her light hues moved to meet his strong gaze. She shook her head. "Where did a wounded god run off to? We have the staff, the Tesseract, and his source material—Dr. Selvig. Why not just give up when you're so clearly as disadvantaged as he is now?"

"Do you think that New York was a distraction?" Tony interrupted from the seat over at the table.

Both Natasha and Steve glanced back at the billionaire. The woman meticulously nodded slowly. Steve frowned, "That would mean that things are just beginning. We need to consider all possibilities until Loki, Jane, and those Loki was working with are found. I hadn't considered the attack in New York to be a decoy for something much larger."

Agent Romanov allowed her hands to hand idly by her hips, "We need to be prepared for anything. We can't afford to be so careless as we were in the beginning." Pausing, the Black Widow closed her eyes, opening them just as quickly. "There is also the possibility that SHIELD will try to claim the Tesseract again."

Tony and Steve chuckled in unison, causing them to glare at the other formidably. Steve extended his arm in the Iron Man's direction. Tony nodded, smiling arrogantly, "That will not happen. So long as we have Bruce, we have all the leverage we need."

Quickly, Steve amended, "Although we  _are not_  going to encourage him to risk the lives on this carrier. I won't allow anyone risk more lives if it is not necessary."

Tony stood up, placing his hands behind his head lethargically. "While you play hero on deck, I'm going to focus on saving the world from an all-out nuclear war."

Natasha smirked, standing in between the two men, "We all have our goals, but never forget that they all lead us to the same enemy." The spy glanced between each of her partners, "No matter what, we cannot forget that. There was much that could have been avoided had we all been on the same page before we went to New York. Nothing can tear us apart."

Tony waved a dismissing hand in the air, despite a new gravity weighing down his features. He appeared to be in deep thought. Steve nodded, clearly agreeing.

When she received another nod from Tony Stark, the Black Widow smirked and left the briefing room shortly after.

**__— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _— _— _—____ _ **

Jane's heart fluttered against her ribcage as a bird trapped within a cramped enclosure. Her lungs ceased functioning momentarily. Never had she seen such a marvelous sight.

The cool tones and satiny texture of the aurora borealis engraved itself within the frays of her recollection. She would never forget such a sight.

The fluid movements of the flowing colors in the sky reminded Jane of a cape attached to a valiant hero. Her breath continued to catch at her throat.

"Beautiful," she uttered quietly, as if sound would puncture the moment. Beside her, Kalt sat as she heard him growl lowly.

Jane glanced down for an instant and tugged on her parka, moving toward the edge of the cave's entrance to catch a better look. "I've never witnessed anything so breathtaking, Kalt!"

Just as Kalt moved toward her at the edge of the cave's mouth overlooking a steep valley between another mountain, Jane ran back to the computers to gather what ever data she was collecting, her lips cracked with a large smile. "This is unbelievable! The aurora appears to be an anomaly in itself! I knew there was a connection to wormholes."

As a printer eased a piece of paper out, Jane crouched over the screen and laughed, nearly jumping up and down. "The solar wind is colliding with the magnetosphere to accelerate the atoms enough to resemble a weakened point in the atmosphere. This could mean that an aurora can potentially act as a wormhole!"

Stepping backward, Jane clapped as she spun around like an idiot. Openly, she laughed she moved her arms around and her body moved awkwardly—sadly, she was dancing. Jane hadn't ever been that graceful.

Still, she goofily moved and continued to laugh.

Jane had done the same action upon reaching a positive discovery in her last round of research.

Out of breath, Jane stilled herself, her smile still claiming her mouth. She rushed back to the printer and stood over the table to examine the results. "I've found it! I've found a way to access other places throughout the universe! These results are similar to the bifrost waves when Thor first came here!"

Her hand then cupped her forehead, her smile breaking. "Holy crap!" She needed to sit down.

As her nerves settled, her gaze captured Kalt's. The black wolf rested ten feet away from her and simply observed her. "Could you imagine what SHIELD or even the Avengers would say about this discovery? They'd probably misuse such knowledge. Erik would be so proud! I cannot believe my theories were true!" she choked, chuckling slightly.

 _"You're a splendor to science itself, Jane!"_   _Erik praised when the sky began to tremble, reacting to one of her low-budget mechanisms she had created to simply see if it would bring her closer to the Einstein-Rosen bridges._

Kalt eased toward her slowly, stopping just far enough to where she wouldn't be able to reach out for him. Jane fell to her knees and sat in a daze. "I'm no Tesseract, but I sure am smart, huh?" she joked, her attention over Kalt.

Lightly, she smiled and sighed, "Will there ever be a time when you'll allow me to touch you? It's not enough that you won't let me sleep in the bed."

When the wolf remained intangible to her, Jane laughed and searched his beautiful hues. She seemed to do that often. "You're magnificent, you know? I've never witnessed eyes so lonesome, yet absolutely brilliant before. I've looked into a god's gaze before, but your own is hauntingly breathtaking."

Jane looked down at her hands and quickly glanced back over him, scooting closer. "Don't tell Thor, but your eyes are much more pleasing. Whomever you inherited them from must have been as honorable as you are—even if you refuse to let me touch you."

Jane noticed Kalt's lazy stare shift into an intense regard, his lids widening and his form incredibly alert, yet relaxed. As he fixed his eyes over hers, her stomach tightened and loosened quickly, causing her to shove her arm over her abdomen. Suddenly, she grew nervous and smiled.

"I'm glad you found me. I don't think this place would be nearly as exciting without someone to share it with."

Before she could continue even more needless banter with an animal, Jane moved back to the computers, studying the results carefully. Her finger followed the patterns of the energy being passed overhead. Finding nothing irregular about the findings, Jane smiled.

 _Finally_ , she thought. For the first time, she had concrete evidence that she would one day be able to find other worlds without the help of a bifrost or Tesseract.

And while the happiness took first priority among the numerous emotions she experienced, a part of her couldn't help but to think that perhaps the world was better off without such knowledge.

There were those who would abuse such findings.

And upon such train of thought, her smile vanished. She would never be as free as her spirit led her to believe. And that was something she could not understand.

* * *

**_To be continued..._ **

* * *


	3. When We Search

**__— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _— _— _—____ _ **

**_Dark Paradise_ by Lana Del Rey**

_And there's no remedy for memory, your face is like a melody,  
_ _It won't leave my head; your soul is haunting me  
_ _And telling me that everything is fine; but I wish I was dead—dead like you._

_Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise_  
 _No one compares to you. I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side._

_There's no relief; I see you in my sleep._  
 _And everybody's rushing me, but I can feel you touching me_  
 _There's no release; I feel you in my dreams telling me I'm fine._

_Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise_  
 _No one compares to you. I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side._

_— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _  
_

**Chapter 3**

"Your majesty, I beseech you to listen to me. As a loyal counterpart to your son, Thor, I ask to be sent to Midgard to aid him. Although failed, there have been many attempts to attack at least three other realms. Who is to say that we're not next in line? I'm deeply concerned for the humans and Thor," Sif rationalized.

"Lady Sif, with the bifrost gone, I cannot hope to send another to Midgard. It was difficult to send even Thor after Loki," Odin solemnly spoke, his tone vacant.

"If there was a way to travel to Midgard without the use of dark matter, you'd permit me to go on your behalf. Correct? I am ready for this. Someone must go, and I willingly accept this task in the name of Thor and in your honor," Sif spoke, her words unbreakably sound.

Odin stood from his throne. The loss of his son, Loki, had placed him in solitude. The absence of his heir, Thor, had captured his energy. Even Frigga could not get him in better spirits. "I fear that if you leave, there may not be a way back. You're ready to accept that burden?"

"Saving Midgard for a chance at redeeming the others is no burden."

Taking a few steps to close the distance between them, Odin sighed, his eyes void of emotion, "You care for him that much, do you?"

Her breath caught in her chest as she gathered her hands at her waist and pointed her gaze downward. Her eyes shifted to worry, "If not as a friend, then yes. I've fought beside him and bled with him in battle. Our mutual duties commissioned by you, Allfather, have guided us toward a warm, comfortable familiarity. I consider him a dear acquaintance beyond serving him as the crowned prince."

"So be it, Lady Sif. Seek out a passage way to guide you down your path. Only then will you depart."

Kneeling before the Allfather, Sif regained composure, her features aligned with determination, "I thank you, Sir."

"And another brief point of business, Lady Sif. Your other companions _—_ the Warriors Three—shall stay behind to defend Asgard. Our numbers are crippled, and I cannot spare you any additional aid. You travel alone."

Still kneeling respectfully, she nodded, "I was expecting such conditions, your majesty. And I shall prepare for such a journey."

Odin held up his hand, permitting her to stand, "Finally: bring  _them_  home. I'm instructing you with the task to dissuade my son away from his mortal fascination. He must be king. There is no other fate for him. He is destined to be seated here after I renounce my leadership. The manner in which you carry on such transgressions is of no import. Simply bring my sons back home."

She nodded, bowing slightly, "I shall do my best to carry your orders with the upmost honor."

— — — — — — — — — — — —

"I'm good, Thor" Dr. Banner spoke, slightly irritable, "I assure you of that."

Thor swaggered beside the alter of the Hulk, his face urgent and concerned. "I advise you not to exert yourself too much, friend."

Lowering a brow, Bruce chuckled lightly, "Is that what we are? Friends?" The weakened man impishly smirked, as if entertained by such a trivial word. I haven't had many friends since..."

"Of course," the Asgardian prince interjected, "We've fought together and nearly fell together. Is that not what you would constitute friendship?" Thor replied warmly.

"Is that what your people consider friendship? I thoroughly beat Loki to a pulp," Bruce joked, somewhat kidding. He didn't know to what extent Thor would enjoy hearing the joke.

"Asgard is different from Midgard, yes. However, friendship appears to be universal as I've come to realize," Thor reasoned.

Stretching, Dr. Banner simply groaned, somewhat pained from the events at New York still. "What about Jane? Is she your friend?"

"I regard her highly, of course, but in times like these, I do not have the luxury of considering her to be more," Thor admitted, awfully reluctant to speak such a truth. "I'd promised her my return, but Loki has distracted me from that promise."

"Maybe it's for the best, you know?" Bruce rationalized, tender to Thor's obvious confliction dwelling in his tone, "How well would an Asgardian and a mortal be together?"

Narrowing his eyes, Thor brushed his palm over his face, dragging his skin as it fell back down at his side, "My father scolded of me that very subject."

As silence settled between them, footsteps were heard further down the hall. Both men glanced toward the noise and saw Natasha Romanov and Clint Barton. "Clint! It's great to see that you are as well as you should be!" Thor said, attempting to focus on other matters. Straightening, he nodded, "I look forward to finally getting to know you. As of a few days ago, you were still entranced by the staff."

Bruce still traced hints of sadness from the god of thunder, but decided to leave the matter of Jane alone for now.

Natasha softly smiled and stood behind Barton, watching him as he shook hands with Thor.

"Thanks, Thor. I feel better without that leech in my head. Also, I'm glad to be relieved of those damned injuries from New York," Barton replied.

"I know you were well attended," the Asgardian said, shifting his eyes over Romanov.

Without casting a glance behind him, Clint raised a hand and placed it behind his head, scratching roughly. Diverting his gaze, he chuckled, "Of course."

Quickly, Natasha spoke, "We need to collect the other two so we can devise a plan."

Thor reached for Barton and began a conversation privately with the man. Barton did not reply.

Natasha stood quietly, her gaze fixing over Clint as he walked away from her. Biting the inside of her cheek, she forced herself to look away, relieving the stress working at her hands by unclenching her fists.

As she shook her head, she noticed Dr. Banner still looking at her intently.

"What?" Romanov irritably said. Despite wanting to, she did not move.

"I know what it's like to want something and not get to have it. If I could, I would be rid of the Hulk, but I don't see that happening any time soon," Bruce mentioned quietly, stepping toward her.

Moisture collected in her eyes as she met his eyes, disbelieving of what he was saying. "You don't know anything about me, so don't pretend that you do, Dr. Banner. I owe him a debt."

"Yes, a debt that's been paid by saving him from Loki's control," Bruce reflected, remembering what she'd told him in a brief conversation before just after they had fled New York to try and track the bastard god.

Natasha's eyes widened, her heart palpitating wildly. She walked forward and pushed him into the nearby wall—momentarily forgetting his anger issues—and pinned him in place, "You know nothing of who I am and what I'm capable of, Dr. Banner. So don't try to understand what I may or may not want."

Bruce smiled softly, "You sound uneasy, Romanov." He quietly remained under her grasp, searching her features. Her breath tickled his skin as he realized how close she was.

Her breathing became unsteady and hastened in their proximity. "I'm not afraid of you, Bruce."

Dr. Banner's smiled relaxed slightly, his mouth falling flat as his gaze became cold, "Good, but you should be."

Shoving her away from him, he hurried down the hall to catch up to the others, leaving Natasha alone to dwell on what had just occurred.

— — — — — — — — — — — —

"The trajectory this device has us moving in makes no god damned sense!" Jane shouted as she hit the navigation device attached to the snowmobile. "There is only a mountain there, not any path!"

Hearing Kalt grunt, she sent him a rude look before adjusting their coordinates. "One more second," she said to no one in particular.

Prior to tinkering with another faulty piece of equipment, Jane discovered she didn't own a can opener for all of the canned food stocked up before she'd arrived by the actual cabin owner, Dr. Reigner.

Jane knew about the small town five miles away from the cabin, so she thought she would get the can opener and see the town. If only luck was on her side.

Attached to the snowmobile, a drag-along passenger car held an impatient Kalt. Jane seriously grew more curious regarding the black wolf. He refused to let her touch him, but he followed her like a shadow. And that irked her beyond reason.

She'd never met a more puzzling creature in her life.

"Here we go!" she mentioned as she was rerouted. Following the path set before her, Jane arrived to the small town with Kalt in tow. Parking the vehicle at a local bar and inn, Jane wrapped her arms around her body and rubbed her hands together. Presently, she only had one glove on.

An additional item on her checklist was a set of gloves to replace her father's old one.

"Hey there!" a woman called from a store. "You must be Jane."

Smiling, Jane nodded, "You must be the woman I was talking with on the phone."

"I get that a lot, but my name is Abbey Taylor. I own the general good store here in town. But, yes, we did speak. I have ordered what you need and have it back at the shop. Follow me," the middle-aged blond woman spoke, chuckling softly as she moved toward her shop.

"Is that your pet, or a lost wolf?" Abbey commented, seeing the wolf follow Jane.

"He's not a pet, nor is he lost.  _I_  was actually lost when trying to find my cabin and he was totally going to kill me, but he followed me home. And I've been feeding him since. Just because he's accompanying me doesn't mean I'm his master," Jane reasoned, giving Kalt her attention. Her features softened as she smiled toward him.

"Animals were designed to be subservient and hunted by humans," Abbey spoke, her eyes fixed over the wolf.

Offended, Jane crossed her arms and glanced at Abbey quickly. "That's not true."

"It is in these parts, dear. Besides, once you give an animal affection, you'll see that they think they are equivalent to their master. The only real freedoms any animal has is the ability to serve and supply a human's appetite," the woman spat.

Exhaling haughtily, Jane drew her head back and lifted her boot up and slammed it down on the snowy terrain, "It's that attitude that causes humans to think we're any more important than grain of sand. Also, it reflects the same mindset that Loki had in New York."

Offended, the storeowner approached Jane nearly ready to throttle her, "How dare you compare my insignificant opinion to that genocidal monster!" Even in the most remote parts, it seemed that everyone was on edge with him missing.

"Yes, your opinion is very insignificant. No one can btruly know what is going on in that head of his, but there is more to the story that what the public is telling us," pausing, Jane stepped forward in front of Kalt. "I personally know that because I know Thor."

"I think your business is done here. Take your things and get out of my sight," Abbey commanded.

"Trust me, I won't bother you again," Jane countered, entering the store and collecting her things. She made sure to leave just enough money for her things before leaving.

**__— _—__   _— _—__   _— _—__   _— _—__   _— _— _— _—_____ **

The heat of the fire warmed Jane's skin, positioned a few feet away from the fireplace in the main bedroom. Since arriving back at her cabin, she hadn't spoken a word: not that there was anyone in particular to chat with. She was supposed to continue her work tonight, but she was no longer in the mood.

She sighed softly, the sound breaking the deafening silence that had settled throughout the cabin.

The utterance had caused Kalt to lift his head to give her his attention.

Jane's eyes remained settled within the glowing tangerine tones within the embers before her. Her skin glowed a passive orange hue, acting almost like a mirror.

With each flicker from the fire, Jane's heart grew tighter.

As a single tear fell from her brown hues, her attention fell over Kalt, who rested on the floor only a few feet away from her.

"Have you ever felt like even your home wasn't welcoming to you?" she mentioned against the strain of her voice. Disgusted with today's events, she shook her head as her eyes distanced themselves from reality.

"Nowhere I've gone to has made me feel like I'm a part of the niche: a part of humanity. And then I met Thor! I thought I'd finally found someone to share my whole self with…until he had to leave back to Asgard to fight Loki," she whispered, pausing to collect her thoughts together.

"He promised me he'd come back, but when he did, he didn't even try to find me. I feel like he thinks I'm as breakable as a piece of thread; yet, doesn't thread hold the very fabric of the clothes he wears to protect himself?" Jane continued, sighing, "No, it's too late to be bitter about Thor's ruined promise. It's obvious that I have to find someone else."

Finally, she extracted herself from her absent thoughts, setting her eyes over the black beast, causing her to smile slightly, "Oddly, you're a much better companion than anyone I've met. Sadly, you can't talk back to me. There's a grand joke in the universe, and I am positive it's me."

Kalt whined, edging toward her, but still beyond reach. Jane shifted and lied down on the rug, tired. "Goodnight, Kalt."

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Loki shifted back into his normal form and sat beside the sleeping form of the mortal woman who had single handedly asphyxiated all resentment from him.

He felt himself turning into a bauble before his own eyes.

Sighing, he inched toward her and moved an arm underneath her neck and underneath her knees, picking her limp form up. For a moment, he simply admired her tormented, peaceful expression.

Eventually, he moved toward the bed, gently placing her into his usual spot on the large bed. Loki bent down and sat on the floor beside her, simply staring at her.

She would never know what she was doing to him. And he found comfort in that. He was still weak, so he wasn't truly given many alternatives than being there with her until he at least recovered a bit more.

The Hulk and New York had taught him that he wasn't unbreakable as he thought. The green beast bested him by simply swinging him about the lodging high up in the sky: what the humans had called a tower, a scraper of the sky.

His plan had been perfect. Yet, in that perfection, there was a hidden flaw. There was something missing from the game he had willingly began. Only now, he was required to remain in his hiding. Thanos and The Other would surely try to seek revenge.

His soul ached.

Would he be required to continuously run? While there was the surprise of how violent his plan had reached, he hadn't intended for such chaos in his own life. He deserved a throne. He craved it. When Thor had been banished from Asgard, the throne was only ravenously occupying his interests simply because he had wanted to be better than the golden boy for once.

Yet, for an instance, when he held the Allfather's staff, the power had been too much for his sensibilities. For a quick moment, standing over his father's motionless body encased in the glittering energy, he had nearly rejected it.

And, yet, even then, his plans had guided him down a path far too dark and complex to back out. He only had wanted to stage a scene in which to be called a hero. But being a shadow—a villain—was what the fates had preordained him to be ruled by.

And he was tired of fighting with such a fate. In another life, perhaps he would be free from such inconveniences.

He stroked her soft, copper-stained hair.

"Jane Foster," he uttered so softly that he perhaps never spoke the words at all.

What Thor could see in such weak, tangible mortal had always lost Loki's fiercely acute wits. Their joining was rather illogical on many fronts. She would die in a breath. Her bones broke so easily as her blood wept as eagerly.

Still, he could not bring himself to glance away from where she slept.

Although they'd spent the last three weeks together, he still refused to allow himself to be close to her. He reasoned that she was a pathetic, weak mortal, but then she had stood up against a raging wolf and an angered woman—all for him.

She did not know this, but he did. And while he was still the madman she so often described him to be, he found himself entertaining the idea of remaining in his current disguise until she did pass.

Her presence brought him a brief, sustainable peace.

And he found himself begrudgingly grateful for such an unexpected outcome.

He argued that she would never understand the true pain of idle loneliness and indifference, yet she confessed the same thoughts he'd been inflicted with from the time he let go of the Allfather's staff.

Sighing, he decided to touch her cheek, his fingers as light as air and his presence as unnoticeable as a shadow under the stars.

Swallowing, Loki slowly crept into the bed and shifted back into his wolf form.

Kalt, she called him.  _Cold_ , they would be no more, he thought as he rested against her form. Eventually, she responded to his proximity by dazedly throwing her arm over his wolf body.

She was warm—so warm.

With that as his last thought, he fell into a peaceful sleep.

For one night only...he would succumb to the fire within her spirit. But come sunrise, he would surely know the void again.

* * *

**_To be continued..._ **

* * *

Please review!


	4. When We Sleep

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Dark Paradise by Lana Del Rey

And there's no remedy for memory, your face is like a melody,  
It won't leave my head; your soul is haunting me  
And telling me that everything is fine; but I wish I was dead—dead like you.

Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise  
No one compares to you. I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side.

There's no relief; I see you in my sleep.  
And everybody's rushing me, but I can feel you touching me  
There's no release; I feel you in my dreams telling me I'm fine.

Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise  
No one compares to you. I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Chapter 4

Warm rays of sunlight burst through the cracks of the blinds. Jane woke up from the ray's warm touch across her skin as she stretched, her arm lamely pushing against a rather soft, silky surface of fur.

Turning her head, Jane saw Kalt resting beside her. Her spine straightened as she gasped, moving away from the wolf momentarily. "How did I get into the bed?" she questioned herself quietly.

As she stood facing the bed, a hand lifted to cup the shape of her mouth. Eyes wide in wonder, shock, and something indecipherable, Jane took one hesitant step back toward the bed, her knee bending to be supported by the mattress, and stretched out her hand to feel Kalt's luxurious coat.

Shaking, her hands took the opportunity to appreciate the glossy black fur. Her breathing regulated itself at an alarming rate, and the pounding of each heartbeat assimilated accordingly. Almost as quickly as she brought her hand to the wolf's coat, she snatched it away again.

The glorious texture of his fur still tingled across her skin, like it branded itself onto her. Raising her hand to her eye level, she gathered her brows toward her nose and then released them, one rising higher than the other.

"What?" she murmured.

A brief sensation of happiness rang through her, permeating from the marrow of her bones. Then, a wash of calmness rushed toward her heart and lungs, stilling the erratic paces. Finally, another wave of sensation ran toward the tips of her toes, causing them to curl.

And as quickly as the feeling came, it was gone.

"What was that?" she cautiously inquired.

Easing her features, Jane moved back onto the bed, her knees folding within each other. "Kalt," she called softly, gently.

Responding, the wolf yawned and stretched in a similar fashion as she had. Then, unexpectedly, Kalt whined, bringing his head around to see her.

The ebony beast rose up on all four legs and planted himself parallel to her, no more than a foot away from her.

"You've got to be the weirdest creature I've ever known," Jane said. "Do you know how I got up here? Usually when I take one step anywhere near this bed you growl at me."

The black beast simply gaped at her blankly. The lack of action caused her left eye to twitch irritably, "That's right, you can't talk back. I really need to find a better hobby than talking to things that literally will never reply."

Kalt snorted disapprovingly and raised its posture to be exactly level to her. Her dull, drowsy brown eyes were ensnared by the new shades smooth, refined cerulean. Her breath caught from the intense stare he gave her. Their proximity caused even her heart to stutter.

"Seeing as how I've never been allowed this close to you, I'm going to guess that you're finally comfortable around me?" she smiled.

Kalt panted a bit and then raised his front left paw. After a few moments, Jane shook her head to force herself to look away from him eyes and caught his paw, caution thrown to the wind at this point.

"You're rather charming when you're not trying to kill me," she pointedly told him.

Kalt whined lowly and caused her to laugh. Upon laughing, he growled. "Sorry, I don't mean to laugh at you. You're just so dashingly adorable sometimes."

Jane's free hand rose to the side of Kalt's head, feeling the whisper-softness of the fur. The left side of her mouth twitched and lowered her head to his, closing her eyes.

"I know you're only a wolf, but you're really great company," she told him, opening her eyes and backing away after kissing the top of Kalt's head lightly.

A knock at the door dragged her back to reality. Slowly, she stood up and walked out of the room, Kalt eventually following behind her.

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Natasha was livid. Despite actual progress of their planning and finding those who Loki pissed off when the Chitauri army fell, Romanov felt as if the atoms within her being would explode like individual fireworks—slow and tedious.

The red head stalked down the hall and shoved everyone in her way—and not in her way—to the nearest wall, including Clint and Thor.

Without apology, she continued to rush through the halls of the flying SHIELD base until she found her target.

Her right eye twitched for most of the trip from her room on the third floor of residential quarters to the lower levels of the ship to the labs.

In her left hand was a single wine glass with a single note. The small piece of parchment was scribbled with messy, but legible flourishes that read, Might your uneasiness be complimented?

A male mentioned a passing and casual greeting as she pulled herself from her loud, clamoring thoughts. Stopping before Tony, she lifted her hand and placed it roughly on his ear, pulling him along the last hall before Dr. Banner's lab.

"What is this, Banner?" she spat, holding up the wine glass.

Twitching his brow and flattening his lips together, Bruce stood up and placed his hands in his pockets, casually leaning on a stationary table while crossing one leg over the other.

"Romanov, if I had any idea of what you were speaking, I am positive you'd be the first to know,"

"Dr. Banner, this isn't funny," her tone vicious.

Privately, he chuckled, one hand coming up to cup his mouth while he glanced away momentarily. Regaining himself, he continued to forge a condescending expression.

"I believe, and correct me if I'm wrong—I have been away from the civilized world for a while now—but isn't that not a wine glass?"

Pulling Tony, still holding him by his ear, she tapped her foot against the cold tile floor. Tilting her head, her eyes narrowed and shifted toward Tony, "Did he put you up to this? Do you think this is funny? The world is quite possibly on high alert, and all you can do is joke around?"

Drawing his face back, he folded his arms together and shook his head, "No one put me up to anything, Natasha. And even if the world ends, there's room to try to find something positive."

"Can I go now?" Tony called, obviously enjoying the odd turn of events.

Natasha sent him a chilling look and cast him away, though he still lingered. Rolling her eyes, she withdrew her gun and pointed it to Dr. Banner. "Need I remind you that we have the world's worst anger management case aboard?"

Holding up both hands, Tony smirked, his expression cocky like always. "Fine, I get it. I'm an unwelcome spectator. That's fine." Nonchalantly, Stark casually walked away from the lab and Natasha closed and locked the door behind him, putting her gun back in its place on her left hip.

Quickly raising and lowering her left brow, she crossed her arms. Her attention fixed back on Banner who hadn't moved once during her interaction with Stark. In fact, he looked rather entertained.

"Is that your private logic that keeps the Hulk at bay, or are you playing some sort of game?" she inquired, her tone slightly less interrogative.

Never moving from his position against the table, he lifted his head and looked away as if collecting his words carefully. "I've never been good at games."

Walking toward him, she placed her free hand not clutching the glass against his steady throat, feeling the fluid rhythm of his pulse in her palm. "Answer me," she commanded as her eyes enraptured his. Her eyes continually moved over his, searching, curious, and wary.

"You really don't fear my alter, do you?" he murmured, his deep voice penetrating through his throat to tremble against her relaxing palm.

Narrowing her eyes she lowered her hand to rest on his chest, clutching the fabric of his lab coat tightly. "Is this some sort of test, Dr. Banner?" Natasha countered.

"More like an experiment," he replied softly, his arms falling back so his hands slid into his pockets once more.

Softening her eyes and features, curiosity forced her to move closer to him and ask, "And how is it going so far?"

Bluntly, he retorted, "Depends."

Growing eager to know what he meant, she set the glass on the table behind him and said, "On what, Banner?"

Smirking savagely, he lifted a hand and rested it over the area between her collarbones lifted on her chest, pushing her away only a few inches. He quickly turned and revealed the glass to her, shoving it in her direction. Closing the short distance between them, Bruce swallowed and truly smiled.

"On you, Romanov. On you," he mentioned.

"I don't get it," she lied.

"You're not stupid," he spoke matter-of-factly.

"Compared to you, I'd argue that I was."

Shrugging, he chuckled lowly, "So I know a few things about gamma rays."

"To me, that's impressive."

His smile grew, "Then, that's all that matters, I suppose. But you're still not stupid."

Struggling with the smile that threatened, she sighed. "Why are you doing this, Bruce?"

Suddenly, his resolve darkened, but he still smiled slightly. Looking her directly in the eyes, he told her, "Because you're the only woman that I've tried to kill who doesn't hate me."

"Dr. Banner, I don't harbor grudges," she replied quietly, casting an interested glance down at the wine glass still dwindling before her. She brought her attention back to him, though.

"No, but you get what paying a debt is."

"You don't owe me anything," she whispered, her eyes momentarily vulnerable. She'd never have anyone tell her of owing her anything before. She didn't know how to handle it.

"The least I owe to you is a drink on me," pausing, he appeared embarrassed, "That is, not on me, but…you get it."

"Because I'm not stupid?" she offered, a smile stinging her lips. She shook her head when he nodded. "Is this how you normally ask a girl out?"

Dipping both brows down toward his nose, he shook his head, casually smirking, "I'd like to think I was as...smooth...as Tony, but, uh, yes. I used to not be as socially awkward."

"And when did you become socially awkward?"

"Right about the time I had two beings within one body," he joked.

When she laughed, she tried to appear apologetic. "That's not funny."

"Say yes, Natasha—if only to make up for mocking my misery?" he asked as his features baring a new vulnerability.

Looking at him, she lifted a brow and in reply, she snatched the glass from his lazy grasp. After another quiet moment, she turned and walked away from a truly content Dr. Banner.

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Without thinking, Jane rushed to the door to see who it was.

Opening the wooded door, Jane saw Erik Selvig in its threshold.

Fondly, her features lightened and she instantly wrapped her arms around him. Tears stung her eyes. Closing her eyes, her hands claimed the collar of his thick jacket as he held her tight.

"What are you doing here? I heard Loki hurt you! How did you escape?" Jane rushed, her voice cracking.

"There is no time for that. You must tell me what you're doing here this instant," Erik ordered. He looked disheveled and tired beyond belief. Definitely not the same man she had left when she was taken to Europe in SHIELD's custody.

Concern rose deep in Jane's belly. Stepping back, she withdrew herself from him, eyes calculative. "H-how did you find me?"

"Jane, this is bigger than the two of us. Do not go seeking out wormholes for your selfish logic of wanting to see more than this life. Be grateful. Be anything other than determined with this," he retorted, crossing the threshold without an invitation, as he closed the front door.

His posture appeared quite hunched over. As she studied his folding features, she deduced that her colleague looked rather lost, tired, and just slightly more irritable than usual.

Jane shook her head, "I'm not working on anything."

Erik laughed, the sound pleasant against her ears. He placed his hands on his hips, leaning against the nearby wall, "Ah-hah! How long have I known you for, Jane Foster? I introduced you to everything you have! Never has anyone showed more promise in our field than you."

For only a brief moment in between his features sliding around to shift into a more serious expression, Jane desired nothing more than to smile. That is...until he started to frown. He remained where he was as he told her, "My mind is not all of my own right now. I can still feel his whispers. Perhaps there's nothing, and it is just me imagining the treacherous noise. But Jane, this will get you killed.

"You'll only find Loki that much sooner, and I will not see you in harm's way. I have protected you for over a decade!

"I have seen firsthand what we would face if another wormhole is opened," she fought. The younger astrophysicist balled her hands and straightened her spine. "If I had only been there with you figuring out the Tesseract, I could have done something to help everyone!"

When he sent her a quizzical stare of disbelief, she rolled her eyes and sighed as she crossed her arms.

"I heard," she acidly mentioned, "about everything. It was you who requested to be put with the Tesseract, instead of their first choice: me! You told SHIELD to take me away to the Alps. I could have seen what you did. I could have been a part of history, and you shoved me away to keep me safe! Erik, I'm not a child. There was no reason to protect me from Loki."

"He used me to kill hundreds of humans and quite possibly the entire world. You think that is glorious?" he raised, stepping toward her as she stepped back.

Bitterly, she scoffed, "At least I would have been there working with anything. Instead you steal all of my research and hand it over to SHIELD, while you shut me out! You never called, wrote, or emailed me. I was all by myself in a failing world. I needed anyone to tell me that it would be okay. Science is my whole life. And at the end of the day, Thor will eventually have to walk away from me...or me from him. Regardless, I will always have science. It's the very air I breathe!"

"Jane, this obsession with researching unreasonable theories would have gotten you killed. Science isn't worth your life."

"How dare you tell me that? Science is my life—my reason for life! It's all I have anymore. Why would you say that to me?" Jane stuttered through her shivering, broken voice.

"Jane, nothing is worth your life. Loki took a hold of my will and paved my life in such a way that will mark me as a murderer."

"Loki gave you a reason for existence. Sure it was a hollow mirage, but at least you had a purpose. You've done the one thing you promised me you wouldn't let happen! You ordered them to take me and send me off into the vast abyss that which is quarantine," Jane shouted. Her hands moved to tend to her pounding temples, "Do you have any idea as to what you've done?"

A faint image of a female face fluttered around her mind. "Where's Darcy? Is she okay?"

Erik sighed, unbelieving, "Unbelievable. I envy you. You envy me." After a moment, he sat down and placed his hands on his knees. He scratched the back of his head. "Do you think I wouldn't force her into hiding as well? That was the part of contingency I had with you in safety. And then I found out that you escaped just an hour after the attack on New York. SHIELD will keep her safe for the time being."

Jane nodded in response. There was nothing she could say.

"It was easy breaking out. I'm naturally curious, and I hate being caged up like a dog," she uttered after a few minutes of silence. She laughed a bit at the thought of her achievements of escaping that dreadful place.

Erik straightened up, "How'd you do it?"

"You know, in a twisted way this all makes sense," Jane countered, her head shaking. She didn't want to answer him.

The large black beast moved around the corner and moved toward Jane, remaining a close, but careful distance in between the humans.

"What is that?" Erik randomly asked, pointing down as Kalt.

Sending him an irritable glance, Jane knelt down and held out her hand toward the wolf as the animal obliged by moving toward her for her to pet him. Jane smiled, instantly relieved. "His name is Kalt. He nearly killed me when I was lost finding this place. We've formed an odd bond, but here we are."

Grabbing her arms, he pulled her up hastily. "Jane, you do not need to become a sick version of Snow White."

"So I'm not allowed to have anything as my ally?" she amended.

"That's not the point. With Loki in hiding, who knows what dangers you'll have in your path. There is no room for nature to align as your friend. You always seem to defy the laws of nature."

"Exactly. Loki is out there somewhere. Focus on finding him. What if he is still connected to you somehow? You'll lead him here," she defended.

"So you fear him?" he asked, impatient.

Shoving him away from her, Jane tucked a stray section of hair behind her petite ear. Lowering her head once, her eyes directed themselves over the cabin. "Fear is a bit of an awkward term these days."

"What term is most appropriate, Jane?"

"Fear, but not in the context you use it," she moved to sit down on the steps leading the upper story of the cabin, staring out at the white world outside. "I can't really explain it perfectly, but in plain English, I fear familiarity. Science requires an open mind, so I thrive on change and foreign anomalies."

Raising a brow, he joined her on the stairs, their shoulders touching briefly, "So you don't fear him."

"I just don't fear what I don't know. Honestly, I find that to be ignorant."

"Your logic is flawed."

Smirking, she tapped her shoulder against his, "I'd say the same thing about you."

When his features weighed lower on his face, she sent him a lopsided smile. "I can't trust you completely anymore. Not after what you've done. I understand that you felt you had something to protect, but you had to have known I'd get myself out of quarantine. And when have I ever listened to authority? When Thor first arrived on earth, you told me to stay away from him. I didn't."

"I understand how you feel...sort of. And about Thor..." he retorted sourly. He gathered his thoughts and returned her intent stare. "I'm sorry he didn't come to find you. To watch you for two years under the influence of his promise of returning for you...That is probably my fault. And I am sorry."

Jane shook her head. She didn't have the energy to think about Thor in a lovelorn way. To be honest, she was tired of feeling anything for anyone. She glanced away and closed her eyes. When she felt collected, she moved her large eyes toward Erik again, "I probably should have listened to you, though. He wasn't good for me. I was good for him...too good I think. He can protect everything so well, except the way I feel about him. It's likely for the best that I let go of these foolish feelings for him, however fleeting they are anymore."

"You'll never get those two years back though. Why not make them worth it? He's waiting for you, you know."

"Erik," she paused, "I seriously doubt anything could make the wasted years worth it. He has nothing to repay, nor promises to keep. I've learned to not believe promises. It's better this way, trust me."

She needed to change the subject.

Fast!

Silence crammed between them. Jane reached to touch Kalt again. After stroking his fur succinctly, Jane stood up and turned toward Erik and smiled deviously, "Want to see what I've been working on? It's almost night time."

"Why does it have to be night?"

Shrugging innocently, she shrugged, "You'll see."

— — — — — — — — — — — —

"The aurora should appear just over this ledge if my calculations are correct. The solar wind has been active in this area since I arrived. There has to be come connection to a wormhole on some level," Jane explained, shoving her papers in Erik's face eagerly.

She'd always been girlish around new theories and the results.

They waited for the sun to completely melt in the horizon. After about thirty minutes more, the aurora appeared, streaming through the air like a banner.

In awe, she moved behind a large mechanism that impressed Erik. "This generator should stir the atoms with enough force to react with the solar wind and the magnetosphere to connect the aurora to the wormhole. At least I hope it does."

"You're sure this is a good idea?" Erik reasoned as she turned on the machine.

Jane looked helpless, shaking, "No, but we'll find out."

The aurora danced over them as if drunk on joy: the tempo fast, quick, and electric. Jane simply stared up at it. She was in awe. Erik was quiet as he adored them to her left. Eventually, he stared at her and swallowed.

"The aurora is reacting to the force that bends the solar waves. The results have been slow, but they show nearly identical to the night that Thor came down to us. And I've created it. It's still too weak to be sure that I'm absolutely correct, but I'll get there. We need to take the tests exhaustingly slow. We don't know what's on the other side of that wormhole."

She turned on the mechanism and the atoms charged the air at a magnificent pace. The solar waves folded into new patterns and eventually created a clear ovular portal. However, the portal instantly vanished.

"I have the setting to low grade. I need to take this as slow as I can. But Erik," she glanced at him, "can you imagine traveling into that portal? It's too bad that it's high up. I cannot reach it in any lifetime. I'd like to see all nine realms for myself."

"Jane..." Erik began.

The woman in question interrupted him by shoving her hand toward him. "To be given this chance to know that the Einstein-Rosen Bridges exist and to not be able to access it because of my limited lifetime would be heartbreaking."

She turned off the device and the aurora returned to normal.

Jane sadly sighed as she returned his intent gaze. She shrugged as she collected her notes and hugged them close to her chest. "It's bedtime, Kalt. Let's go get warm."

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Jane threw herself out of the bed. Immediately, she sprinted down to the lab in only a thin layer of cotton: an oversized shirt.

Once she arrived, someone in all black rushed past her, knocking her down while she was still travelling down the middle of the stairs. In the effort of saving herself from a harsh fall, she tried to reach out for the railing, but she failed to grab it correctly.

She fell down ten stairs and cried out when she hit her head against the wall.

Dazed, Jane struggled to stand up. She immediately felt blood rush to the surface of her skin. "Ow," she groaned.

And her heart fell. The mechanism was turned on high. "No, no, no!"

She needed to turn it off, and as she shoved her hand at the power handle, she noticed it was broken. "Shit! Shit! Shit!"

Tears streamed down her face as she frantically attempted to turn it off. No such luck. Smoke infiltrated the lab. She knew she would die if she stayed. Smoke was beginning to seep into her lungs.

She coughed violently. She cried out and shouted at the top of her lungs until a pair of arms snatched her from behind. Struggling, she reached out toward the machine, but the force behind her pulling her was too much for her weakened state.

"I...have...must...turn...shut it...down!" Jane stuttered through her swelling throat.

"No! You don't get to die now," he said, throwing her over his shoulder.

"Wait! No! Please! Stop, Erik. We need to..." pausing, she saw the outline of an entity, no two entities, that did not appear to have a regular human shape. "Run!"

And he did: all the way through the dark tunnel and into the cabin. Kalt chased them from behind and didn't stop to take one look back. Jane had the view of Erik's opposite, so when she saw a disfigured monster coming from the cabin a few hundred yards behind, she screamed.

Her eyes started to fall black. Suddenly, she saw white. She felt cold. Her swollen eyes blinked twice irregularly. Kalt was in her view, and she felt more safe for some reason.

And everything went black again. She heard the sounds of a helicopter. She heard the voice of Nick Fury. She could barely understand the words, but she did know that he wasn't happy about a wolf in the helicopter. She heard someone protest. From there, the world faded away.

 

To be continued...


	5. When We Wake

**__— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _— _— _—____ _ **

**_Dark Paradise_ by Lana Del Rey**

_And there's no remedy for memory, your face is like a melody,_  
 _It won't leave my head; your soul is haunting me  
_ _And telling me that everything is fine; but I wish I was dead—dead like you._

_Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise_    
 _No one compares to you.  
I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side._

 _There's no relief; I see you in my sleep.  
_ _And everybody's rushing me, but I can feel you touching me_    
 _There's no release; I feel you in my dreams telling me I'm fine._

 _Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise_    
 _No one compares to you.  
I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side._

_— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__

**Chapter 5**

The whole base was on high alert. All television screens and computer grids displayed news feeds from across the globe. The few Chitauri that weren't killed (or new ones, for no one could be absolutely sure) rampaged through various towns and cities across Norway, Alaska, and Canada.

So far, those areas were where they were contained.

For now.

All of the Avengers prepared themselves for another battle, but they'd received word from Fury (who no one had noticed was missing) to remain on the base for further instruction.

Whatever he had, the Avengers knew it had to be important—vital.

Employees, soldiers, and personnel darted across the entire ship with no real destination except to prepare for when Fury arrived.

Presently, Barton ran through the lower levels of the ship in order to locate Thor, Dr. Banner, and Natasha. As he ran through the halls, almost every person told him to meet on the bridge in ten minutes for briefing.

Urgently, he entered the labs, his face moving around to see any signs of any of his comrades. No such luck.

Frantically, he continued to search with unease gnawing at his chest.

**— — — — — — — — — — — —**

Thor walked in front of Natasha. By her side, Dr. Banner joined her.

"We will not allow any more mortal lives to be lost—no matter the cost," Thor raised, his pace more eager to reach the bridge than his two comrades.

"I agree that something must be done, but how did they come back?" Romanoff added, her black suit tight against her curves.

Bruce put his glasses on and held up a small tablet that projected a 3-D screen five inches above the device, watching the news and various reports made public. "Loki has to be involved," he said, anger tickling his senses.

The Hulk had some unfinished business with the god of mischief.

"He would still be too weak even for an Asgardian," Thor commented idly, perplexed by something occupying his attention inwardly.

"Dr. Banner, I have no plausible speculations, but we can't completely rule your brother out, either," Natasha replied. The three walked and from an adjacent corridor of the lower lever labs, Clint ran into the woman clad in black.

"Natasha! I've been searching high and low for you," he said, his expression odd. Raking a hand over his head, he held his bow absently in his right hand.

"I was down here with Dr. Banner," she told him, her nerves kicking her gut. After a while, she added, "and Thor."

Muscles working his features, Clint frowned, gaping toward Bruce, "Why would you be down here? These are just labs, and you're no scientist."

"That's neither here, nor there, Agent Barton," she countered, ignoring his concerns. "What is important is that we hurry to the bridge for our briefing."

"Thanks for telling me what I already know, Agent Romanoff," he rudely retorted.

Grabbing his upper arm, she tugged him, both halting, "What's your issue?"

Raking another hand over his head, Clint diverted his light eyes away from where she stood. "Nothing," he began. Shoving away from her grasp, his voice froze when he finished, "Let's just go."

Idle, Romanoff bit her cheek and stared after Clint. There was definitely a rift forming between them. Just a few days ago, they were both getting a bit more comfortable than usual while she tended to his head injury inflicted by her. She saved him from Loki's taunting. And he repays her with indecent immaturity.

And she didn't know why.

Catching up, she decided to focus on more important things. Banner joined her again and placed a hand on her shoulder, snatching her focus for a second. Her head shifted to view Dr. Banner.

"Thank you," was all she replied, comforted slightly.

Removing his hand from her, Bruce passed her and caught up to Thor.

**__— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _— _— _—____ _ **

Tony held his left arm up as his foot tapped rather dramatically over the shining tile floor of the briefing room. He'd already irritated Romanoff because when the last four Avengers entered the room, the Iron Man was impatiently killing time by spinning in a chair recklessly about the room.

Sighing, he threw his hands up, "How long are we going to sit by while earth becomes a graveyard?"

Steve Rogers stood by the glass that overlooked the bridge of this massive air base, his arms behind his back. "I was told that he would be here over an hour ago. That is all I know."

Thor set his hammer on the large conference table and grunted, frustrated. "We cannot idly watch all of Midgard being thrown into turmoil."

"Sorry I'm late, Avengers," Fury called from the entrance, securing the door. Beside him was Erik Selvig.

"What in the world is going on out there, Fury?" Dr. Banner inquired, taking his glasses off and wiping his tired eyes roughly.

"The hell if I know. I just took it upon myself to locate Jane. I did, and she is here with us," Nick admitted.

Thor sprang up and tensed, "Where is she?"

Nick rubbed his bare head and faintly swallowed, "That's the irony in this whole scenario. Loki had nothing to do with this mess.  _This_ is all Jane's doing. For the moment, she is secure and safe. All of her injuries are well tended to."

"I don't understand," Thor quietly remarked as he reached out for his hammer, power fluidly coursing through his fingertips. "Why or how would she do this? Has Loki gotten to her?"

A haughty chuckle was heard from the general direction of where Tony Stark sat. "If Loki took over her mind, I'd reconsider how I feel about him. In his current weakened state, he can physically do little to nothing. Can you imagine how catastrophic for the world if he caught Jane's mind?" he uttered.

He finally stood up and walked closer to Agent Barton. Lifting his hands so that they rolled into fists by the sides of his head, he released the coiled fists and blew out a sound resembling a bomb. "Mind blown."

"I don't think this is a good time for your type of humor, Tony," Steve retorted as he narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, Stevie," Tony playfully quipped, "I thought we were past this tension."

Finally, Natasha crossed her arms and lifted her chin to angle her head in a more deliberate, focused manner. "What's really going on, Fury?"

"She found out how to access wormholes, which has seemed to trigger other wormholes in the areas affected in Canada, Norway, and Alaska. How...is not important. We need to figure out how to close them off for good," he said.

Dr. Banner and Tony both rose at the mention of her finding out how to access other worlds. They mutually knew her to be an intelligent woman though neither had ever personally met her.

"You mean she found the way to other worlds, and, in turn, we get to kick more ass?" Tony outwardly thought, "I like her already."

Natasha pounded a fist on the table. "Don't make light of this, Stark."

"Why can't we try and have fun?" Tony argued, his features fit for party.

"Ladies," Nick shouted.

"If they are ladies, then I must be a man," Romanoff starkly spouted.

"Where is  _she?_ " Thor raised.

Letting his current breath flow through his teeth, Fury met Thor's gaze. "Since she escaped our base in the Alps undetected, I placed her in a similar cell as Loki so she  _cannot_  go anywhere."

" _WHAT?"_  Thor menacingly spat, hastily flying to Fury and pinning him against the glass, his hammer high above his head ready to attack. "Jane is not a criminal, Fury! Is this the sort of treatment she received in the Alps? It is no wonder she fled. Why was I not made aware of this before?"

"Thor, I realize you care for the girl, but she was in the direct line of Loki's power rage. SHIELD kept her off the grid using less than standard methods. But she lives," Nick contended eagerly, his exposed eye narrowing. He glanced over to the others, "And from what I saw and heard from Erik, Loki had nothing to do with this accident."

"You dare treat a friend of mine like cattle, like a slave?" Thor refuted, eyes like daggers even though he no longer held Fury. He lowered his hammer. Sadly, Thor moved toward the door and halted when someone called his name.

It was Erik Selvig. "Don't go to her, yet. You're needed here more, Thor."

"You knew of this? Were you conspiring against your own colleague, too?" the god of thunder hesitantly asked.

Erik appeared sullen. He placed a hand on Thor's shoulder. "Thor, listen to me. Everything I did...it was only to protect her. Partly, I wanted her away from you. You will only bring danger closer to her. You were gone for two years. You got here without the use of the Bifrost. This whole time, you had the chance to make your promise valid.

Erik pulled his hand away and turned around quickly. He stepped away from him with his back still turned to the Asgardian. "She has no father, and her mother is more of a faint fallacy of family. All she had was me, Darcy, and science. I improvised in order to do what I thought was right."

As his throat caught like lead in the ocean, he struggled to breathe properly. "Fine, but I shall not forgive either of you. Ever."

"What do we have to do?" Clint spoke, breaking his silence, finally.

**— — — — — — — — — — — —**

_He had to flee. He feared what would become of him should he stay—endure the cracking bones simply to draw another breath in a way that didn't feel worse than his father's disappointment._

_What had he become? How had he reached this moment without realizing how truly numb he was: lost, forgotten, abandoned._

_And not just by his family and his failing army, but by himself, too._

_Not desiring to reflect inwardly of his character quite yet, Loki rose from his position on the floor, tears flowing like an immortal river amidst the shadows of the stars. Crying out, he steadied himself by continually breathing._

_He needed time. He needed stealth. He needed…something._

_Anything._

_First, he had to heal and stay away from the notice of Thanos and The Other—for forever preferably, but at least until he could once more defend himself._

_Fading away from the demolished tower, Loki dropped onto a white, cold soft substance and eventually recalled it as snow. On his back facing the stars, he wept uncontrollably._

_He felt hollow. More than that, he felt nothing. Silence, a stilled hunger chewing him up without regard to his aching heart._

_He only existed: a true waste of presence to any of the nine realms._

_Words would not fit across his lips. If he could form a mode of language, he would cry out for his father, for_ Odin.

_There was nothing left for him to live or die for._

_For the first time in his many millennia, he felt true agony._

_Even worse, he was indifferent to it._

_So, he fell asleep lying on his feeble back, absorbed by the purity of each falling snowflakes._

**— — — — — — — — — — — —**

_He'd been asleep. He hadn't known for the duration, but only felt that it had been quite a while._

_His wounds felt like they'd healed some, but for the most part, he was still in pain and still very much alone._

_He was resigned to his fate. He deserved no less._

_Testing to see if perhaps he could speak, he moved the muscles framing his lips to fit the word, "Odin."_

_The pale god sat up and winced at the intolerable aggravating sensation at his back. Unconsciously, he wept._

_His chest heaved, struggling for breath. Each inhale was a horrible and formidable task._

_"Father, please help me. Guide me to where I am meant to be. I can bear this no longer!" he quietly reflected, hoping the Allfather would hear his words._

_No response._

_Shaking his head, he swiped the last tear falling from his face._

_He could not be in this form. Too much attention would be drawn to him._

_He closed his eyes and concentrated long enough to shift himself into an obsidian beast. Just as his transformation completed, footsteps gathered in the distance. Curious, he moved toward the commotion quietly._

_Observing a very familiar face, he began to corner her into a tree. His heart, uncommonly slow one instant, ignited._

**— — — — — — — — — — — —**

Alarm shoved Jane's eyes open. Her vision blurred terribly, and she couldn't make anything out save a large black figure and an outline of bright white. Her eyes closed and they opened again. This time, she made out a bit of pale tan, resembling the shape of a long, elegant face.

She moaned.

Someone was breathing roughly.

Someone called her name with hesitancy, fatigued alarm, and poise.

Words were said to her, but she could't listen to their meaning.

A hand moved down to her hip and pulled her toward something...she could feel her body touching something. A wall? Wreckage from the cabin? A person?

Had she died?

No...she felt breath enter her lungs.

Her eyes closed again. This time, they remained closed for an unmeasured length of time. Her breath echoed against the open space.

The harsh outlying white stung at her eyes, disabling her from peace within herself.

Darkness was what she wanted. Yet, the bright lights disturbed her... _yes!_...lights!

She felt herself shivering...no...someone shook her...that had to be a hand disturbing her.

Suddenly, she was floating...her bum remained on the ground. Her head raised as something snaked around her shoulders. An arm.

Cold.

Bitter.

Lost.

Opening her eyes, she could make out her arm and her hand being held by another's.

Her arms was a muted dark blue...faint...fading...away.

Her eyes closed.

Warm.

Peace.

Found.

**— — — — — — — — — — — —**

Jane's eyes snapped open.

Gasping quietly, she shot up and surveyed the room—no cell—she was in.

Her racing heart queued underneath the loud rhythm of her breathing.

Pain shot from the base on the back of her head and weaved through her brain to the front, just below her forehead.

Weak hands raised to comfort the affronted area, but her fingers touched the texture of gauze.

Pivoting on her bum, she studied herself in the faint reflection in the thick rounded glass.

The lights prevented her from being able to make out most of the minute details a mirror could provide, but she noticed that her head was wrapped tightly with a thick layer of the gauze she felt.

Heavy lungs drew in a hissed breath. Pain scorched from her diaphragm up to her neck. Jane was injured more than she originally thought.

"Kill me..." she uttered as she used the slick glass for support as she stood up slowly.

As she outstretched her hand, she noticed that she was adorned in nothing but another layer of wrapping around her chest. Instinctively, she withdrew her arms so that they crossed over her exposed, but poorly covered chest.

Jane glanced down and moved her hands down so they clutched the heavy black cargo pants that extended past her short legs could stretch.

She kneeled and appropriated the length by rolling the smooth fabric so they were just above her ankles.

The band that bound her hair was pulled out of her long chestnut hair. Her hair fell free over her shoulders, providing a better cover for exposed skin.

Although there was not a chill to the air, Jane shivered. The scientist raised her left arm and studied it as it shifted between a faint blue coloring back to the naturally tanned hue. Her irises expanded rapidly as the phenomena occurred.

Quickly, however, she shook her head. "Not right now, Jane. Find a way out."

Physically, she appeared focused as her hands caressed the glass and the white metal encasing the glass together. Inwardly, panic struck her like a thunder bolt.

Loki was closer than she thought.

In fact, he was unbearably  _too_  close. He snuck underneath her impeccable senses. While she pursued danger consistently—with or without intent—Jane prided herself on being able to sense it rather well.

Jane glued her eyes to the task at hand. She couldn't bring herself to look at him.

What did she need to do? If she told anyone about Kalt... _Loki_...they'd assume he had taken over her. And he hadn't...from what she could tell.

So many questions flooded her mind, pulling her away from scanning the small cage for a way out. She was frozen in place.

The questions grew louder...

_Why had he come to her?_

_How did he escape New York?_

_Why had he hurt Erik?_

_Why not her?_

_Why hadn't he harmed her in the duration of time in which the opportunity was favorable for him?_

Ringing clamored against her skull.

She winced as she lost her balance. Her hands shielded her ears, but the noise persisted violently. "Ah-ow!" she cried.

Arms closed around her shivering body, but her eyes immediately snapped open. And her feeble arms attempted to shove the figure away. In the process, though, the force just whipped her backwards and she knocked her head against the glass as she shrunk down the smooth surface.

"Stay back!" she uttered as she somehow managed to lift her head up.

He was there.

Standing in front of her.

But his expression wasn't lethal.

_Concern?_

"Damn it!" she shouted as she tried to stand up. Her feet slid against the floor, which prevented her from gaining proper grip.

She chuckled once. Jane shook her head. It was useless.

She still didn't look at him. "You're good at pretending, right?" she asked without waiting for a reply. "Let's pretend you're not Loki from Asgard and I'm not Jane from Midgard. We're both in a less favorable position while we're in here. Let's help each other by helping me find what I need."

"I was contained in here. From what I found, this room is not meant to be escaped from. Quite impressive for mortals," he quipped quickly. He bent down and assisted her in standing. "Magic served futile save for tricking Thor to being trapped in here..."

"I shouldn't want to, but I have to know. You trapped him in here?" Jane casually inquired. She hadn't physically acknowledged him, and she busied herself with scanning the cell for a sign of weakness.

He provided a strong hand against her lower spine as she walked around. Eventually, she fell to her knees in a temporary display of not giving a care. Despite a sharp nip of pain at her knees, she moved her fingers over the flooring.

He did not get on his knees, but followed close behind her with his hands joined behind him. His boots echoed softly against the otherwise quiet atmosphere within the cage. He smiled sadistically for a brief time, which she wouldn't have seen. "This room is designed to fall at the insistence of a button outside on that panel of control."

"Of course it is," she interrupted, "Let me guess. After you trapped him in here, you pressed the button?"

"Perhaps not in this  _particular_  one. I suppose this is an identical replica of the one I was held in, but...yes," he quietly retorted. His pride slipped from his words.

Jane banged a weak fist against the floor, but nothing happened. Finally, she stole a glance over her shoulder. "Would you mind stomping or punching this spot for me?"

He complied, and the floor cracked in half and caved in on itself.

Jane smirked. "SHIELD really need to make these maintenance points on the outside of their cells," she arrogantly said. Finally, she sighed loudly, "You're magic cannot save you in environments like this because you don't understand the mechanics of how to disarm this cage, whereas I, a mortal, do..."

After a moment, Jane pulled a cluster of wires out from the small hole in the floor. "Though I'm not supposed to. I'm far too stubborn and curious than I need to be."

He began to ask her something, but Jane just interjected. "The green wire or the purple wire?" Jane spoke as she slithered her fingers away from the other wires. "In the other cell, the red was the alarm, the light blue set off the weapons, the dark blue was for the lights, and the yellow was for the intercom. These are identical wires, except these two."

He knelt down beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Immediately, she moved away from his touch. "I'm guessing one of these wires operates the door's functions, and the other controls the whole free-falling functions...but which is  _which?_ "

Nervous, she reached down as her hand shook violently and tugged on the vibrant green wire, her heart stopping as she closed her eyes tightly.

Hearing a disturbance from outside the compound, the door eased open.

Jane reached up for him, and he pulled her toward him. "What about the cameras that are no doubt in here?"

"No one shall know of my presence here. Magic allows me to be as elusive as I need to be. I'm sure you'll find the...cameras...will see you struggling to get out by yourself as the wolf simply watches you doing so," he confided.

Jane smiled. "It would be too convenient to have those sort of abilities."

Loki stopped her, "What do you mean?"

"When I think of power, I immediately think of science. Habit, probably; but, science is wieldable for me, and I've accomplished so much with it. Magic would such a lazy alternative, I think," Jane shared as she limped out of the containment cell.

"Never mind that, now. I should walk on my own because we're bound to meet someone," she corrected.

Loki gently pushed himself away and continued to walk beside her as they approached the exit. "They will only see me as a wolf. You have my word."

After a moment, Jane lifted her features to look at him properly. She fidgeted with her hair so that the majority of her skin was covered near her chest. "Your word means absolutely nothing to me for now. I cannot trust you, but for whatever reason, I think I do...faintly. I understand that you hate your brother and humans, but for my sake, please stay hidden. Obviously you're hiding from something, so I know that you're getting something by using me as a cover."

The mischief maker laughed dangerously, "You cannot think of the horrors I dwell in. I do not hide. I'm simply surviving."

Jane waved her hand in his direction, "Call it what you want, but I call it running. From what...I'm not sure. But just you wait, I'll find it eventually...regardless if you want me to or not."

**— — — — — — — — — — — —**

Opting to go left, Jane ran down past a few labs. It took all of Jane's focus to ease her attention away from the interesting things she saw in the vacated rooms. One door was open, but she shook her head. She had to focus.

Her long hair flowed with each rotation of her head.

"Do you have any idea where the way out would be?" she whispered.

Before either of them could think another thought, someone rushed behind her, calling her name desperately.

Shifting her stance, she glanced over her shoulder seeing Thor.

Her features remained indecipherable to Thor, no matter how long he tried decoding her expression. "Jane Foster!" he shouted as he strode toward her in a matter of seconds, bringing her in a rough embrace.

"Are you well, Jane?"

As the tension eased, and she grew more comfortable, a smile pried her lips from the thin line they'd once rested in. "Thor, that's not important right now."

"Of course it is," he uttered, hunger wildly vibrating even the molecules around them. Gooseflesh tightened her arms and she suppressed her natural reaction toward him: attraction.

He didn't come for her, and she would do well to remember that. The fact numbed her.

Her eyes couldn't fully silenced the comfortable affection she felt for him. Noticing this, Thor reached for her lips and brought them to his rough, dry ones.

Moving his chin awkwardly, Jane simply complimented his movements by remaining still, submissive. Jane cared for this man, still. So she could not bring herself to completely reject him, yet.

Her eyes never closed. In fact, the gooseflesh ceased upon their joining. As he pulled away, he gathered her into his arms and smiled brightly, ignoring her completely even though it was she that made him smile.

"Who is this?" he hesitantly queried.

Jane's heart dropped. He could see Loki?

But then Jane saw the tilt downward in the hammer-wielder's chin. She smiled as she turned to quickly steal a thankful glance at Loki, who still stood next to her.

Looking up at the burly god of thunder, she lightly replied, "His name is Kalt. He nearly killed me in the woods before I arrived to my cabin before I talked him out of it. But like other present information and questions, that's not important, either."

Thor's expression warmed. He looked distressed, but Jane didn't seem to care for the moment.

"Where are the others?"

"Others?" he responded quickly. Shaking his bright head of shoulder-length hair, he sniggered, "The other Avengers? They are likely pursuing me, since I left the briefing early. I had to see you, Jane."

While they had a moment away from others, Jane pried herself out of his arms. Loki was still there, but Jane easily ignored his existence. "Thor, things can't be the same."

"Of course they can," he reassured.

Shaking her head, she bit her lip, "I waited or you for months and months. Then New York happened, and you never sought me out. At _all_."

"Loki set out to distract me, Jane. You surely cannot fault me for sustaining peace throughout Midgard," Thor articulated.

"Well, when you say it that way, no. But…"

Many sets of footsteps cluttered the silence that had settled between the three. Jane turned, separating herself from Thor, and stood a few inches away from Loki/Kalt.

"Dr. Foster."

Jane's eyes fixed over Fury. "You're literally the last person I'd like to see at the moment."

"You escaped, I assume? How?" he ordered, authority bleeding from his words.

"A secret. You understand what those are. Stealing my work and my partner so you could engineer a new breed of nuclear arms? How pathetic," she fought.

"Jane, I'm going to speak frankly. You're simply a human without any special abilities or training. How am I to believe that you escaped without said qualities?"

Raising the corner of her mouth and crossing her arms, she replied, "Literacy."

"Dr. Foster, I have not the time nor the patience to deal with your sore personality."

"Excuse me, Fury. I don't seem to care all that much. I'm sure the sentiment is mutual," she countered, "But, we both want answers. You talk, and I'll talk."

Coming out from behind the tall, dark-skinned man, Tony Stark reached for her hand and shook it, "Dr. Foster, it is truly an honor to meet you. I'd love nothing more than to work with that sore personality. Of course, your line of work isn't the same as mine, but I'm sure we could find common ground."

Forcing her hand from Stark's, Jane opened her mouth when Thor shoved her behind him and glared at Tony. She simply rolled her eyes.

"Fine," Nick Fury spat. "I talk. You talk."

* * *

_**To be continued...** _

* * *

Please review! What do you think will happen next? Stay tuned!


	6. When We Help

**__— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _— _— _—____ _ **

**_Dark Paradise_ by Lana Del Rey**

_And there's no remedy for memory, your face is like a melody,_  
 _It won't leave my head; your soul is haunting me  
_ _And telling me that everything is fine; but I wish I was dead—dead like you._

_Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise_  
 _No one compares to you.  
I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side._

_There's no relief; I see you in my sleep._  
 _And everybody's rushing me, but I can feel you touching me_  
 _There's no release; I feel you in my dreams telling me I'm fine._

_Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise_  
 _No one compares to you.  
I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side._

_— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__

**Chapter 6**

The Avengers crowded in their makeshift drafting room. Tony waved his hands through the 3-D projectors, and the group surveyed local broadcasts throughout the world.

Dr. Banner continually tapped a tablet as he sat opposite of Natasha and Clint. Barton scoped out possible methods of subjugating the new and unknown enemies while Romanoff simply commented about how they could begin to contain this outbreak.

Bruce examined the pair over the top of his glasses, though he would break his stare occasionally to appear productive with his tablet. In the deepest, darkest corner of his heart, he could hear the Hulk dwelling unsteadily.

_She should be near you..._

_Natasha should spend her time with you..._

He _has no right to be near her..._

These dangerous thoughts rose like bile in his brain, thwarting any hope of actually being productive.

Bruce took off his glasses and moved his fingers to the bridge of his nose, rubbing the spot gently. Inwardly, he began to recite a string of empty words thought to be a poem authored by the esteemed William Shakespeare. Of which poem he could not be sure.

A soft chuckle pried his lips open shortly.

He hadn't ever needed to ask anyone for the title. It didn't matter, though. This was the most effective method in order to stifle the dirty, hungry, and possessive thoughts the Hulk yearned him to think.

Especially since his odd attraction to Natasha began.

Banner distracted himself by returning his attention to Romanoff.

Natasha held a paper as Clint leaned in closer to read it along with her. As Barton's eyes scanned the parchment, she eased away. Bruce wondered why she would inch away from her old comrade.

He found the exchange curious.

Meanwhile, Natasha exhaled. The proximity was too harsh on her private heart. Biting her lip, she glanced down and saw a scar on his left hand. Tragically slowly, she reached for his hand and met his eyes.

"How are you, Barton?" she quietly, guarded, asked. The group unanimously knew that he hadn't taken Agent Coulson's death well. No one had, really.

No even looking at her, he withdrew his hand from her and flipped the page, continuing to peer at the paper. "Let's not do this, Natasha."

"Someone needs to talk about New York. We were all there—all of us. So talk," the Black Window pointed out, gathering all of the Avengers' attention.

"I agree. Though nothing can compare to the amount of loss we have all suffered, I've seen many battlefields similar to the one you have endured. Talking is always an effective measure," Thor supported, gazing over to Romanoff and nodding.

Everyone could tell he was in better spirits because of Jane's proximity, though her presence wasn't entirely welcomed by all of the Avengers.

"Personally, I find it rude to pry into my business," Hawkeye mentioned.

Natasha took the papers and threw threw them toward the table. "Agent Barton, where have you gone to? Haven't you ever thought that some of us may  _need_  someone to talk to?" she spat as she stalked out of the room for time to gather her composure. With a strong hand on the door, Romanoff slammed the door.

"Should we address the elephant in the room or not?" Tony mentioned, his tone serious. As the other Avengers sent their notice toward him, he simply swallowed, adjusted his features with a sarcastic frown, "Why is there a wolf on board?"

"The creature is Dr. Foster's companion from Alaska," Steve Rogers mentioned softly. Steve's gaze fixed over Dr. Barton, who was gathering his things and standing up.

"And just where are you going?" Clint asked, his tone like liquid fire.

Brow rising, Bruce shrugged and replied. "I'm going to check on Romanoff. She's right in what she spoke of. We'll only be divided if we don't start talking. Talking is a way to strengthen our camaraderie."

"I'll go after her, then," Barton revised, his gaze never leaving the other man's, " _You_  sit down."

The doctor simply smirked, "You're the one who sent her out of the room."

When Clint didn't say anything else, Bruce simply walked out of the room following the direction Natasha had gone toward.

__— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _— _— _—____ _

The rough current of the wind seemed to calm Romanoff's chaotic pulse. Deeply breathing, she allowed herself to be soothed by the bitter temperature of the ship's altitude.

Opening her eyes, Natasha waited for one more moment to gather herself to go back inside, but stopped when Dr. Banner stood in the threshold, his chest heaving and his skin glistening.

Walking toward him as he walked toward her, Natasha took a moment to study the way he moved, the way he unlatched the top button on his shirt. His lab coat was off, and he was clad in a pair of light khaki pants trimmed perfectly to his stature. When she paused, he continued to close the distance between them.

Unlatching another button, the fiery woman could see remnants of his thick, dark chest hair. Needing to break her gaze away, Natasha's gaze locked onto his, and he slid his glasses off and placed then in his shirt pocket. Her breath caught.

"Why are you up here, Natasha?" he asked, his breath hoarse from his pursuit of finding her.

She fixed her features and remained neutral in expression, though she was sure he'd seen her fragile thoughts etched in her faltered features previously. She shrugged and cracked her knuckles, "I can't seem to find a probable, nor logical reason that could supplement the truth."

"Why not just say you needed to get away or clear your head?" he asked as he stood in front of her.

As he continued to stare down at her, her bright blue eyes set on her own feet. She casually laughed and eventually met his gaze once more, "I don't clear my head, nor do I ever need to get away. I'm the one who is always focused on the task at hand."

He reached out for her shoulder, clutching onto the fabric of her leather jacket gently, "You never say anything remotely valuable about yourself, do you?"

Natasha shared a laugh with him, his deeper chords resonating with her smoother tone. "I'm a byproduct of what people tell me I should be. I'm the lucky one whose life is figured out for them. I have no personal freedoms."

"Oh, god, you really believe that..." he uttered, though the wind picked up and seemed to carry away the words as he spoke them.

The red-headed woman shifted out of his weak grasp and moved away from the threshold. Her blue eyes admired the landscape of clouds and brief bursts of chilly droplets that hit her face. Without turning around, she shook her head, "How are you feeling, Dr. Banner? I'd hate for your other side to spark again."

"Don't do that," he called behind her. She felt Banner rush behind her and take her body to pull her towards him. His head bent so that his lips were beside her ear.

A shiver ignited across her spine, and Natasha moved her head to the opposite side so he couldn't see her face. "Do what?"

A low chuckle danced around deep in his chest, "Agent Romanoff, you remind me a lot of myself when I first realized that the Hulk would never go away."

"I don't mean to be insulting, but I doubt anyone could be that vulnerable."

He reached for her cheek, pulling her so he could see a faint expression of idle wary. "What are you afraid of, Natasha Romanoff? I'll tell you that I'm afraid of you."

Her brows tugged toward her nose, "Me?  _Why?_ "

She felt his arms tighten around her. "Because you represent the thing I have been killing since the Hulk took over my life."

Her heart flew with anticipation. "And what do I represent, exactly?"

"Human interaction.  _Hope_. Involvement. Hazardous emotions...to name a few," he said with a blank smile.

"I don't have to represent anything."

"No..." he hesitated, "but you do."

"You know that the Hulk can feed from your mind and your emotional state," she said, although it was highly unhelpful and painfully obvious.

Although he politely smiled, his voice cracked, "Are you suggesting that I stop feeling, thinking, and living...or pursuing those with however much volume of error that's included?"

"It's easy for me to turn off my emotions. It's easy for me to shut my brain down with personal thoughts. What I'm saying...it's insensitive; but, that's because I'm trained to be that way."

"You are the perfect tragedy, Natasha. And you don't even see it."

She slid away from him in an instant, putting her hand on his throat. Her eyes were distant, but telling. "Why do you feel the need to tell me what I am?"

She applied ample pressure to his neck underneath her immovable fingertips. Her eyes grew heavy as moisture gathered at her lashes. Her short, bright hair waved in front of her face as the wind changed direction.

When she stared into his eyes and saw his irises altering shape and size, her grasp remained tight over his throat. "I'm not afraid of you, Hulk. Nor am I afraid of you, Dr. Banner. I have nothing in particular to fear."

Bruce clutched her wrist tightly and tried to shove her away; however, his strength while in his human form was nothing compared to her acute, lethal fortitude. "Damn it, Natasha.  _Move!_ "

His nails dung into the thick leather layer, but her resistance refused to wane. "Listen to me, Bruce Banner. There is nothing you cannot do. Right now, I want  _you_  here with me. You fight this," she coached. Her breathing increased until it was almost unbearably fast, so she slowed her breathing and regulated it accordingly.

She reached for his hand as her other hand lessened its grip on his neck, but remained in position over his skin. Quickly, she guided his hand to her chest, "Slow your breathing. Use my heartbeat as the tempo. Think of nothing but silence. Silence is in the way the wind changes. Silence is in the way your heart pauses briefly to release itself from its contraction."

His skin began to shift to a sickly green shade, but his body remain presently unaffected by the usual bulging muscles that belonged to the powerful Hulk dwelling within this man.

"That's it. Hear my voice, and think of silence. Use my voice as a beacon to guide your wayward thoughts to peace. Shut out the world. No one else exists but you and me. If it helps, drown me out. Feel nothing but my warmth, my calm, my strength. Cling onto it. Don't let go. Breathe."

Finally, his clothes began to snag. He pulled her closer to him, but his embrace soon began to suffocate her. She whispered his name and murmured secrets she dared never to tell through what breathing was possible.

But in all of her talking, she never once asked him to stop hurting or holding her. Never once did she mention the nearly unbearable pain of her spine and her ribs in his embrace.

She braved his emotional storm with a stoic resolve.

Until she could not bear it.

A small whimper escaped her lips as her vision began to flicker between a sunset sky and darkness. A roar belted out from his still moderately human-sized form. In a last effort to show him she was still there in support, she removed her hands away from his throat and wrapped them around his flexing body.

"You're not responsible...for...what happens to the people...the Hulk destroys," she murmured through the pain.

Her knees buckled under her and he kneeled down, his breathing seeming to slow with each passing moment. His embrace loosened, but the pressure remained for a while.

"Natasha," he whispered against her temple. His voice was not his own, but she could hear  _him_  in it somewhere.

"I'm okay, Bruce. But come back to me, okay?"

The temper of the Hulk subsided as he held her in his arms, supporting her from resting on the ground. He dropped his other knee and grabbed her by the shoulders. Through the silence of the moment, he sobbed. She noticed his skin slowly restored to its natural tanned hue, but he held her still.

"Dr. Banner, I'll keep you safe so you won't hurt anyone, okay? You don't need to transform anymore. I'll help you try to control this as best as I can," she stopped, trying to gather her thoughts, "I promise that I'll be here whenever you need me to."

Despite her wanting to hear him speak again, he just continued to sob.

And she let him.

__— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _— _— _—____ _

"Dr. Foster, have you been contacted by Loki?" Fury shouted.

"No."

"Dr. Foster, have you experienced a time when you were not yourself?"

"No."

"Dr. Foster, do you think you can say anything other than a no?"

"Perhaps if you asked the  _right_  questions...I would be so inclined to say something else."

Shoving his hand against a nearby wall, Nick sat back down at the table. "Jane, please. People are dying, and you're the only one who can help me for the moment."

Irritable, Jane grunted, "Fury, I would like to help you, but until you realize that Loki has nothing to do with this, you're going to continue to get nothing from me."

"Then tell me what you want me to know."

"You first," she countered.

Growling, Nick placed a hand on the side of his head as pain collected, "Fine." Taking a deep breath, he continued, "The Avengers project is equivalent to a task force on steroids...and more. I gathered this group to counter any potential threat from another realm or country. Loki went wild and stole the Tesseract, controlling Selvig and Barton for a duration of time."

"Sounds like an abridged version. I'm going to need more than that," she informed him as she sat back and lifted her feet so that her right ankle rested on the table before her. Finally, she brought her left leg over the right and sighed.

"Jane, please. Some information is classified."

"That's never stopped you from wrecking my research, has it?"

"Jane, what do you want from me?" Fury hissed.

"Tell me why you gathered them in the first place? I want to know who thought this 'task force' of steroids was a good idea."

Nick bit his lip and sat down in the chair in front of her. "I anticipated something like Loki's tyrannical tantrum. I couldn't know what the event or threat would be, but I knew when I heard Thor existed that I had to do  _something_ to prepare earth as best as possible."

"That's a better answer. It satisfies my question just fine," Jane muttered. Her eyes caught his, "After my research was stolen by SHIELD...you...I had to hypothesize new theories. I followed a SHIELD worker to a remote, old army camp during my stay in Europe after Thor left. What I found was something I didn't understand.

But, after nightfall, it went completely abandoned. I found a way in and swiped a book that was in German," Jane paused, taking a breath. "I obviously cannot read German, so I had a colleague translate the gist of it."

"Why were you following my men in the first place?" Fury questioned.

She just shrugged, "Sometimes I do silly things for no good reason."

She closed her eyes and moved her head in a circular motion, cracking her neck. "The bulk of the book was garbage, but a sentence fascinated me. The book read, ' _In the light-flares of the sun lies the road to the universe_.'. I didn't know what it meant, so I began thinking more on a broad level of the landscape of different fields of astrology."

Her laugh halted the conversation.

"I'm an astrophysicist, so studying stuff here on earth is somewhat foreign to my psyche, but I eventually remembered that Auroras had something to do with solar flares...or whatever," she explained. "That's everything you need to know."

Relaxing, Fury sighed. "Well, that is all for now. Meet with Dr. Banner and Tony Stark in the labs periodically to brief them on how to possibly reverse the aurora's activity."

"I'll do whatever I can to help."

__— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _— _— _—____ _

_He was sure he was flying; yet, he felt weightless like gravity rejecting his very existence. Was he floating? Opening his eyes, darkness devoured his sight. He did not feel death's aching call, nor did he feel life's breath. Who was he?_

_He was Loki._

_In this place, he could not feel sad. He could not feel the wounds Thor had inflicted upon his body. The only tender touch he felt was the grip of his molten heart. He'd only pursued glory in the name of Odin. Thor was not ready, nor fit for the throne._

_The façade of a brother was arrogant. He was vile, cruel in his brutality as displayed when countering Jotunheim's entrance into Asgard. Loki wouldn't have guessed that he would be banished, or that he was actually of Jotun blood himself._

_Even his mother had so quickly believed Thor when he'd burst into Asgard. He had slaughtered his own father for Odin. Frigga had mentioned that Odin had purpose for every action._

_If that were true, then the Allfather predicted Loki's plan all along. This caused Loki to bitterly realize that Odin had set Loki up. To claim him as a son, and continue to prepare Thor against Loki's schemes…_

_Suddenly, a small cluster of rocks appeared amidst the shattering darkness. A force tugged at Loki's body toward the rock island, eventually pulling him at an alarmingly quick rate._

_Impacting, his body felt like four frost giants' ice at his back weighing him down. Struggling, he glanced around, seeing a single entity that resembled fear in itself._

_"You have come here to die, stranger," the being spoke, his voice low and sinister. Loki felt his heart stop, life altering toward death. He realized the being held out his hand, controlling and reading his heart._

_"So, your name is Loki of Asgard? I am known as Thanos. You have come here for no purpose than banishment and shame, so I shall kill you slowly and mercilessly. Prepare to die without honor, wanderer," the voice spoke._

_Suddenly, all of Loki's bones—ribs, legs, arms, spine, fingers—broke in half. And Loki wailed, though no sound erupted from his lips as his lungs caved in._

__— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _—__ _— _— _— _—____ _

A loud howl blew over the residential chambers of the ship. There could be no better word for the cry other than misery. With each passing second, the unbearable sounds grew louder. And louder.

Jane's eyes burst open as her body fell six feet onto her bed.

She was floating?

A pair of hands cradled her face until a disturbance at the door sounded. The pair of hands disappeared as a wet, cold snout rubbed against her face, a low and worried whine ringing in her ears.

"Jane!" Thor cried. Immediately, he fled toward her bed and gently shoved away at Kalt, who growl menacingly.

Jane's body shook. When Thor's hands pinned Jane to her bed, she cried out, "Hot! Too hot! Let me go!"

"Forgive me, Jane. I cannot oblige your request until I know that you are safe," Thor countered, his hands tightening to hold her down.

The overhead light flickered on as a violent shiver scorched across her body. Thor's attention shifted toward the door for a second, and his grasp loosened. "What's going on?" Rogers called, alarmed and caught off guard.

"I believe Jane had what you humans call a nightmare," Thor replied.

Jane squirmed away. He reached out for her, but she shook her head, "You can't just come in here and place force over me in my own bed!"

"Jane, you were shouting as if someone was in here to kill you," he reasoned, his features darkening.

A defined frown set over the scientist's lips, "I can appreciate that you want me safe, but, Thor, I can't be a priority to you right now."

"Jane?" the Asgardian challenged.

Quickly, Jane moved to the window with her eyes stern. Hesitation sunk into her heart. She was required to lie to him against her wanting to. "Thor, I need to take care of myself. You're spending so much time trying to look after me _—_ and I really appreciate it _—_ but I've been by myself for these few years. You can't expect me to be thrilled to be rendered all control over my life."

Thor set his hammer on the bed and rushed to her. His large hands claimed each of her shoulders, "You believe that I am trying to  _control_  you?"

Her eyes narrowed. Her spine, despite aching, straightened defiantly, "Controlling in the sense that you push me behind you when Tony tries to make simple conversation? Controlling in the way you fail to see how science is my weapon? I escaped from every situation people forced me into. You only see me as a mortal, fragile being, rather than a spirited, capable human."

"I've witness your capabilities, Jane. You helped me to that base in the desert. You're very spirited, but sometimes, you fail to understand the depth of danger that approaches!" he countered.

"Let _me_  go," she hissed.

Thor reluctantly complied. His eyes smoothed out as he glanced away from her to Rogers. "We need to end this madness, friend. Divided or together, I will not let them harm Jane."

"I'll go get the others to perhaps sort out a plan. I agree, but we need to be smart about this. We suffered tremendous casualties in our pursuit for Loki. We shouldn't make the same mistakes again," Rogers supported, eagerly walking out of the room.

The Asgardian turned his back to her, but Jane caught his hand. Her heart tugged slightly in her success in lying to him. He'd never hurt her, yet it was so easy to do so to him.

"Thor, let me explain," she whispered, fear creeping into pores. The feeble bones in her body trembled. For the first time, fear caught up with her. Being only human, Jane knew she needed to talk it out, but Darcy and Erik were nowhere to be found.

"Explain," he hesitated, seeing the evident worry in her expression. He cradled her cheek in his strong hand.

Jane found herself closing her eyes and leaning into his touch. Tears gathered in her lashes. Realizing she couldn't say much about what she saw, or about Kalt, she bit her lip and sighed, "I can't explain."

Thor's featured softened, "What can you not tell me?"

"More than I thought," she admitted. A quick lift in her chin and a steady pull away from his hand squashed the dormant anxieties plaguing her.

Upon her words, Thor's expression hardened, distanced.

She'd hurt him. Again. "I'm sorry, Thor."

"You should not worry of what I am feeling. Rest, and know I will protect you with my life, Jane," he replied quickly. He stalked out of the room in a rush.

As soon as the door shut, Jane ran to it and bolted it shut.

Her knees buckled underneath her lithe form. She landed roughly on her bum, but she couldn't register the slight discomfort.

For the duration of many months...close to two years now...

 _Thor_.

Jane Foster wasn't the sort of person to hold a grudge. That certainly wasn't what she was doing with him. Everyone was always the same. Perhaps she was the sort of person that was just left behind.

The night she ran him over with her van changed her life. Many times she felt for the better; however, times like this left her feeling that it wasn't good.

Even Erik had cast her off under the guise of protection.

Didn't anyone know that she didn't desire safety so long as it meant that she was alone? Jane was the sort to desire a meaningful death, rather than a safe existence.

But no one had asked her that.

Hell, she never truly thought about it until now.

"When I first met Thor, I thought all of my problems were answered," Jane uttered in the unbearable silence.

A soft snicker broke from a few feet away. "Many people think that. It's not just you. I shall never understand how it is he who must grant others such reprieve from logic." Bitterness littered his tone, Jane observed lethargically.

Eager to pluck herself from an disagreeable direction of thought, Jane paused to collect her words. Despite her ankles shaking, her weak stance was supported by the fluid movement as she stood up. Her hands used the door to support her while she did so.

 _So many questions_...

And what to ask?

As he stepped closer toward her, she instinctively stepped back, realizing she could go no closer. With her back flush against the door, Jane lowered her head as she gasped. Her right hand covered her mouth as if the door's presence was unexpected.

She looked at him.

He halted his advance.

Through the thick veil of the dark, she saw his eyes narrow and brim with a bit more moisture than normal. Loki glanced away and stayed his reaching hands extended her way.

He'd meant only to help her.

Jane bit back a harsh swallow.

She should not busy herself by feeling sorry for this man.

He destroyed everything by simply being there.

Or so her socialized brain shouted...Yet, there was something in the way he carried himself in this moment that made him so completely ordinary.

"You're frightened by my company when I've kept close by you these past few weeks," he spat.

Jane stood as tall as her short body could muster. Her left hand balled and glued to her projected hip.

"You're someone who has nearly killed me. You've displaced my world into peril...brought your burdens to earth. No human deserves to be ruled without will. You're sins scare me...no doubt you've killed in the thousands," she countered anxiously.

He rewarded her with no retort...just silence.

As she moved closer, he simply stood still.

Carefully, she met his guarded gaze and blinked once. After that, his hues hardened so that he became a stranger...not that she knew him personally.

"But, in your sins, you have company. Nothing changes how terrified of you I am, but I'm beginning to think that will go away with time. You've made me a part of your life in such a way I can't understand. By the looks of it, neither do you. We're tethered together until we figure this out. And we will. We have to," Jane clarified.

He kept the awkward distance from her. He pulled both hands behind him, joining them together. "What makes you think you will solve this? Understand it?"

"I don't know. That's what I love about science. I get to break and bend the rules how I need to until I can answer the problems. Loki," she choked, breaking her line of thought momentarily, "the things I've seen...the things I've heard... _felt..._ Oh, god." Immediately, Jane broke the invisible barrier binding her in place. She closed the distance. Her hands slithered over his dark leather apparel and grabbed onto his wrists.

"Tell me what you've seen from my life."

"You desire to hear of your parents," he amended.

She laughed and tears crawled over her eyes, "You've seen them!"

"I see them often, actually," he told her eventually.

Jane bit her lip and lowered her brows into an expression of curiosity, "Is there a way that you can show them to me? Even in a false scenario. You've seen them, so you must be able to do that."

"Don't go running with foolish ideas, Jane Foster."

He shoved her hands away from him.

Immediately, she followed closely behind him to the large window, "Loki, I've kept you being here a secret from  _everyone_  I care about. You have to give me  _something_!"

In a flash, he whipped around and thrusted her back onto the bed, sinking onto it with her in a death grip. His eyes were predatory. "I owe you  _nothing!_ "

He stayed over her even when his breathing accelerated violently. His eyes bore deeply into hers. Jane felt a sharp intrusion settling in her skin by her lower ribcage.

_He had a knife?_

Words failed her. For a rare few seconds that achingly felt like years, Jane had nothing to say.

He leaned so closely over her that the ends of his disheveled dark hair touched her cheek.

Jane opened her mouth to let out a heavy breath from her lungs, her shaky chest creating a stutter filter over the release. Her heart rate matched his breathing. She saw his eyes never leave hers.

Neither blinked.

Jane didn't flinch as his hand travelled along her extended left arm resting above her head on the soft bed linens. The sharp point stayed, though. It seemed to be an unrelenting force against her skin.

She blinked when she felt a tight, dry fog cloud her vision. Fear was no object he would see in her brown stare. Though she felt it acutely at her core, Jane refused to give him the satisfaction.

His hand grabbed her wrist tightly.

Neither spoke.

The pressure he put on her wrist as he shifted his position tugged on her loose hair splayed hazardously over the bed. Her brows furrowed in strong attempt to weather the slight discomfort.

The point of the knife left her unscathed skin.

His grip loosened, and he slowly moved off of her, situating himself on the bed. As he sat there, Jane studied the ceiling, lingering in the same position.

"Say something...anything," he ordered quietly.

He still held the knife in a tight grip.

She sat up and crossed her legs a few inches behind him. "Tell me what you're thinking."

He gasped and chuckled all at once. "That certainly won't help you now."

Jane swallowed, "Tell me how it feels to kill someone."

He shot a confused expression over his shoulder. "Your questions are most extraordinarily, poorly timed."

"Tell me what you want me to ask, then. My emotions are still trying to regulate back to normal, too," she uttered nervously. Through a forced laugh, "Though it seems to be distracting you well enough right now."

"Another attempt, then," he ordered, his eyes still adjusting.

"When you first came here, did you have plans to use me or kill me at all?"

"You'd better know the answer to that particular question. You're bright enough to know without the confirmation or declination," he retorted irritably.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You're very odd."

Jane stole his attention as she stared at him, searching his guarded guise for any signs of danger. "So I'm aware."

He fell quiet.

She didn't like it. So, in an effort to fill the unknowing silence, she whispered, "I wish I knew what to ask."

"I'm all right," he assured as he pivoted his position on the bed so that he faced her. He let go of the knife and, as it fell to the carpet, it vanished.

Just as she was about to fill the void again, he narrowed his eyes. Instantly, she tilted her head, "What?"

He shook his head. "Best to give me some space," he warned, though she could sense another string of words under the too casual utterance.

"What do you want to ask?"

"What about Thor draws you to him?" he awkwardly asked in the same manner as a nervous child asking a stranger a question.

Jane laughed. "I suppose it was his insanity. At first, talk of Asgard sounded so crazy, but then the actuality of its existence sent a flood of questions I needed to know. He was exciting and different...But that's not to be."

"Not to be?"

She narrowed her eyes, "Are we  _really_  going to talk about my relationship with him? Don't you practically hate him?"

"Aye, but I am still in need of distracting."

"Well," she hesitantly started, "There was an intimate, but small moment when I actually thought he would come back. But he didn't."

He swallowed.

"That's because of you. Now I know," she added. Casually, she continued, "In such a strange way, I need to thank you. I'm not including the years I wasted pining after him, nor the destruction to New York, but now I see that he's only a protector where I am concerned."

She stood up and moved back to the window, her eyes surveying the night sky. She smiled as comfort settled in her heart. "He will never be enough for me. Or it could be that I will never be enough for him," she outwardly thought. "Either way, I'm no queen, nor is he  _it_ _._ "

"It?"

Shaking her head, she noticed that he'd joined her by the window, still standing at a comfortable distance. "More."

* * *

**_To be continued..._ **


	7. When We Realize

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Dark Paradise by Lana Del Rey

And there's no remedy for memory, your face is like a melody,  
It won't leave my head; your soul is haunting me  
And telling me that everything is fine; but I wish I was dead—dead like you.

Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise  
No one compares to you.  
I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side.

There's no relief; I see you in my sleep.  
And everybody's rushing me, but I can feel you touching me  
There's no release; I feel you in my dreams telling me I'm fine.

Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise  
No one compares to you.  
I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Chapter 7

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Jane Foster pulled her attention away from the holocast computer, which she was still trying to figure out how to work.

Her eyes studied the subject beyond the glass window in the sliding lab door hesitantly. Unsure of why they were there exactly, she tugged loose strands of hair behind her ear and swallowed nervously.

She nodded as Thor emerged inside the laboratory given by director Fury. It wasn't as private as she'd like it to be, but it continued to dazzle her by how upgraded it was from anything she'd been exposed to. The technology amazed her, but she still held a slight contempt for such over manufactured pieces.

She would always prefer making her own equipment.

"Jane," Thor spoke eventually. He moved closer to her and rested his hand on the holocast table. Jane threw a hand down, but the holocast wouldn't disengage from the current projection. Biting her lip, she thrusted her arm down again. Nothing.

Her brows slouched down toward her nose. "Seriously?" she fought.

Frantically, she waved her hands over the table in hopes that it would turn off.

Nothing.

Growling, she jammed her finger on the power switch on the side of the table.

A laugh broke through her throat, and a smile festered over her lips.

"Hello, Thor. What brings you down here?"

A grave expression etched into his features. He moved closer to her and wrapped an arm around her. He quickly brought her into an impenetrable embrace. "I worry of our future and friendship, Jane."

She fought the urge to roll her eyes, however faint that urge was.

A part of her basked in the attention he gave her. Since she was dealing with the ongoing curiosities with her and Loki's connection, Jane hadn't been able to really talk to anyone as of late.

And she did miss him.

Everyday she found it harder to stay away from him.

In New Mexico, they had shared a wonderful, frightening three days together. He saved her and her friends. There was still something there. Somewhat, she mused cynically.

Her arms tightened securely around his neck. Her head leaned against his head.

"Jane, I have hurt you more than once. I am aware of that. And I cherish the brief time we were given. But, you have to give me the credit I feel I deserve," he replied idly. Before she could speak, though, he continued, "The threat against this world has to take precedence over my feelings for you. Otherwise, this world would not be safe for you."

"I know that," Jane uttered hastily. What else could she say to that beaten horse of logic?

He sighed, "I'm instructed to take Sif to one of the cities to fend off the Chitauri's advances."

The astrophysicist's eyes narrowed sadly, "I can't imagine they'd send anyone else." After a moment, Jane pulled herself away from him, "Wait. When did Sif get here?"

"There was a disturbance similar to your findings in the desert when you ran me over near the same location. I volunteered to go assess the threat, and I found that my father sent her here to assist us with the Chitauri. She was also instructed to personally find Loki and take him back to Asgard."

"Oh."

Thor stepped closer toward Jane and both of them joined hands. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Aren't we already talking?"

His fingers caressed her palm. "In truth, I've felt for a long time that I feel profoundly more for you than you do for me."

Her eyes dimmed. The corners of her mouth sagged. "Thor, things are different now. I can't call what I feel for you love after knowing you for only three days. It's not logical here on Midgard. That's hardly our fault. We just come from different worlds."

The soft touch of his fingers against her cheek shocked her as she gazed up at him with a little less than stars in her eyes. He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers, "I want to wait for you."

A slight shake of her head dispelled him from his thoughts. Jane swallowed and released a tense breath, "Perhaps you shouldn't."

Sharp sensations from his caressing hand permeated over her skin quickly. A chord of bright blue danced over his hues when she saw moisture gather at his lashes. She closed her eyes and kissed him quickly.

"You are the only person, with an exception of my family and friends, I have truly cared for," he told her. His chest rattled as his voice was imprisoned in a soft whisper.

"Tell me what's wrong," she ordered. Worry plunged within her heart when she met his unsteady gaze.

He shook his head and pulled himself from her. At first, he went toward the door to leave, but he halted under the threshold. Quickly, he turned his head to the right shoulder, looking at her. "No matter what people think of my strength, I am unable to focus as of late. The matter of my missing brother troubles me more than it ought to. The many he's hurt and killed...and I still feel empathy toward him."

A loud clank echoed in the small lab when Jane slowly walked to him. Her fingers clasped over his wrist so she could steal his undivided attention, "How many people did you kill in your pursuits on Asgard or before you were sent down to earth?"

Thor shook his head, "That is different, Jane. I was a different person, and I was filled with an arrogance that poisoned my reason and tainted my judgement."

"Why were you banished, though?"

The expression etched on his features was a bit hostile. But she wouldn't relent.

Loki wasn't answering her queries.

He was so evasive. She needed to know.

Still, after swallowing, he answered, "I took my closest friends to a realm we call Jotunheim. On the day that would have been my coronation, there was a breech in a very important room. When I found out that Jotuns infiltrated under our guards, I lost myself. I led us into an unforeseen battle with tremendous consequences. That battle was when Loki discovered he was not Asgardian," Thor told her roughly.

"Interesting."

— — — — — — — — — — — —

"I need Pepper here. In my absence, she can help gconfigure a proper theoretical plan to closing these holes, while we go play round two of heroes," Tony stated, a smile rocking his mouth.

"I'll contact her, but I can't promise any results without you and Dr. Banner's assistance," Fury countered.

"Just do it."

Nick leaned to one side and shook his head three times, wondering how he'd once been influential over the Avengers.

Now they more or less did their own thing. Needing to find the other Avengers, Fury stalked out of the room.

"Are you sure it's a good idea for me to stay here, Tony?" Bruce asked, his voice smooth and weary. He obviously thought otherwise. He and Tony had an understanding—a brotherly bond, almost—so they pretty much went to each other for advice and listened to what the other said. For the most part.

Tony nodded, "The rest of us are splitting into three groups to try and combat the few Chitauri numbers invading the towns in Norway, Alaska, and Canada. I'm heading to Canada with Clint, Thor is heading to Alaska alone, and Romanoff and Steve are heading to Norway."

Raising a brow, Bruce crossed his arms, his glasses naturally sliding down the bridge of his nose as he lowers his head, "Why is Thor going alone?"

"Thor's buddy from Asgard came to assist by order of the 'Allfather'. Thor insisted that they would be fine without the rest of us," Stark explained, a smile wearing his lips.

"Why are you smiling?" Dr. Banner hesitantly questioned, his fingers pushing his glasses back up.

"What's going on between you and ole Natasha?" Tony questioned.

Bruce tightened his fists and walked toward the door without answering, "Just be careful okay? I'll work with Jane to find a way to close these wormholes."

Tony followed him, disregarding Bruce's blatant want to change the subject. "Sensitive subject, Banner?"

Rolling his eyes, he took a deep breath and looked over toward Tony, "After Loki came on board, I nearly killed Agent Romanoff while the Hulk rampaged through this base. She wasn't running wholly for her life, butI remember the look in her eyes before I transformed. There was a pure desire to help me as a person. I've never received such an odd response from someone about to run into...him."

"So, you feel something toward her?" the other Avenger bluntly asked.

Shifting his jaw, Bruce glanced up to the ceiling of the bright hallway, "She gives me momentary peace. I appreciate not feeling anger all the time. And when she's around, everything is just easier."

"I see," Tony concluded, his arm lightly bumping against Bruce's. "I was the one who suggested she go with Steve, by the way."

Catching a laugh at his throat, Dr. Banner smiled, "Thanks for being observant."

"I have an uncommon knack for sticking my nose where it doesn't belong," Tony countered.

Shaking his head, Bruce sighed, "When it's in my favor, it's a nice knack."

"Ah! Dr. Foster!" Tony called as his peripheral vision caught wind of a shorter female walking toward them.

"Hello, Mr. Stark, I was on my way to discuss how we can fix this mess," the woman said, smiling. Shadows underneath her eyes contradicted her light mood, Tony deduced. Also, her voice was a little raspy. Albeit a short specimen, the attractive scientist appeared to be worn down.

And Tony could relate to that.

"I'm the man power in that operation. You'll be working with Dr. Banner today. I gotta to go," Tony said, running toward the bridge.

"Where's the wolf? I haven't seem him stalking around these parts lately," Bruce questioned, trying to fix his attention on a different matter than the subject with Tony. He was beginning to find it difficult to think clearly lately.

"Kalt?" Jane responded, her gaze shifting behind her. She simultaneously shook her head and shrugged, "I thought I heard him behind me. I'm sure he'll be fine in the room by himself for a while."

"If you don't mind me asking, why is he here?"

Jane chuckled, looking down at her joined hands for a moment, "He followed me, and Fury didn't refuse him being here." She shrugged.

"Yes, but why is a wolf in a flying SHIELD base? Where does he go to, say, relieve himself?"

A chuckle escaped her lips. "Dr. Banner, you're very critical," she replied before adding, "There is a break room with a small garden on the third residential floor. That's where I take him to relieve himself. Of course I dispose of his waste as best as possible."

Eyes narrowing, he felt something abnormal in his gut, but decided to focus on the most important tasks at hand. "We should get started, Dr. Foster."

"I agree."

Holding out his hand back down the hall, he said, "After you."

She walked down the hall toward the lab she'd been instructed to meet him at, Bruce joining her at her side. "So, an astrophysicist?"

"Yes."

"What exactly is that field of study?" he inquired.

Her featured brightened, always excited about her field of work. "An astronomer who studies the physical properties of celestial bodies."

"Oh, sounds interesting."

"It's a very exciting field. Not many people believe me, but I know it, so that's all that matters," Jane enthusiastically remarked, her hand shifting a section of hair behind her ear.

"I'm glad to meet a woman of such intelligence and passion for her work," he offered. At least they had that in common.

Arriving at the lab, Bruce's hand hovered over a flat computer screen embedded in a table, raising up 3-D projections of the atmospheric activity in the three inflicted parts of the world.

"There are three wormholes open in the world so far. The other Avengers are currently on their way to hold off the Chitauri forces. We're to find a possible way to contain the damage to those areas. Also, we are placed with the lovely task of figuring out a manageable way to close the wormholes off for good," Bruce instructed.

Seeing the projections in all three areas, Jane studied them, her face as animated as a stone in the sand. Her hand raised, and her fingertips touched the blue lines, dragging outward so she could enlarge all three outcrops.

"Can you give me a detailed rendition of how the Tesseract functioned?" Jane hesitantly asked.

Bruce took off his glasses. "What?"

Jane glanced at him.

"Please."

"Well, it was like a battery that couldn't be controlled by anything else save Loki's scepter," Banner skeptically answered.

Jane laughed and held the man's gaze.

"But do you know where the power source originates or comes from?"

Dr. Banner shook his head.

The astrophysicist smirked casually and took out reading glasses from her lab coat pocket. "I do."

"H-how is that possible?"

"I remember reading about a study for an assignment I had to write for one of my physics courses at The University of New Mexico. In Laymen's terms, a psychotic Russian scientist after the second World War experimented on children in order create a power source from scratch. The theories driving the research were, at his time, beyond his time, though the theories weren't his.

"They belonged to a man named Johann Schmidt, a man who was involved with the kidnapping of a "classified, unknown specimen" I now suspect to be the Tesseract during that same war. This crazy scientist...what's his name?...Yu-...Yuri Iva...Yuri Ivanov! This Ivanov scientist guy killed nearly 3000 infants and children to make the Tartarus Project come to life," Jane explained.

"Why kill 3000 children?" Bruce inquired.

Jane shot a glance behind her and Bruce noticed her irises expanding. Quickly, though, her attention was given to him again.

"The book I got a hold of was authored by the son of a scientist involved in this Project. I interviewed him, but he wasn't all that helpful. He just regurgitated things his father in his old age had told him. I did more research, and I eventually tracked down Ivanov's experimentation journal at an old private library of my colleague's mansion. He believed the classified specimen talked directly to him during his brief encounter with Johann Schmidt," the scientist continued quite enthusiastically.

Bruce extended his arm out to her. "Jane, get to the point, we don't have much time."

"I know, but I am trying to make a point," she fought.

"Fine."

"Thank you," she started.

"In this journal, Yuri mentioned several times that he believed the Blue, which is what he called the classified, unknown specimen, was a living entity. But since Steve Rogers vanished along with the Cube, he hungered to remake it if not to be reunited with this life form. He thought his mission was to create an infinite power source in order to exact revenge on the United States government for taking the Blue away from him."

"He sure sounds crazy...and I've met a lot of crazy lately," Bruce commented.

"It's fascinating, yeah?" Jane interjected. "Anyway, In his pursuit to mimicking the Tesseract's power, he tried 86 different prototypes for a soul-extraction machine. He used the children for their souls, but he wasn't ever successful in extracting anything. Eventually the USSR discovered the Tartarus Project, and they executed him for his crimes."

"Why bring up the Tesseract?"

Jane ignored his question for the moment and screened back to the three areas affected by the wormholes. Instead, she pulled his attention to the hologram computer.

"There is a common magnetic activity placed above each area, which are unusual places for auroras. The charged particles are moving too quickly. These energy fluxes should not even exist—not at their current rates," she observed.

"Right. But how are they related? The only wormhole you opened was in Alaska. How is that one connected to the other two?" Bruce asked.

"Pull up a world map with the latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates," she requested, not knowing how to fully operate the advanced projections.

When he complied, Jane pointed at the precise location of all three aurora locations. Tracing a straight pathway to connect a perfect line between the locations, she enlarged the map to reveal the 66 degrees north latitude.

"White Island in Nunavut, Canada, the town just outside Fort Yukon in Alaska, and Heroy in Nordland, Norway are the exact locations. They all sit on this same parallel," she observed.

Flipping her hands, she tracked the 66th parallel for other unusual activity in the magnetosphere. Her heart sunk as she came across the small Chukotski peninsula located in Russia, the exact location of the village of Uelen. "Holy crap."

Ivanov had conducted his project in Uelen, Jane recalled.

"What?" Banner unsteadily questioned.

Without answering, Jane dashed for the intercom by the glass sliding door. She heard Dr. Banner move behind her.

"What's going on?" he demanded to know.

"Essentially, we have another crazy person out to destroy the world," Jane replied.

Her finger jabbed the button four times, but no answer. "Typical," she said with a flourished curse word. "I'm not built or trained to run!" The words were nearly a whine.

Her legs couldn't move fast enough. Heart blazing, she rounded a corner. With no time to stop, she continued her pursuit of the Bridge. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw Dr. Banner chasing her.

Her muscles burned, ached, and thrashed against her skin, but she did not stop. Her breath eventually began to sting at her lungs.

Still, she ran on.

Dr. Banner never fell behind, only gaining ground ahead of her. "I'll get you to the bridge. I'm unsure of whether they would let you in by yourself."

"Okay."

Bruce ran ahead and instructed the guards to open the door for him. They complied with the Avenger and Bruce waited for Jane to enter. Rushing past the guards trying to tell her she wasn't allowed in there, Jane dodged the many hands trying to still her. She ran past Fury, who roughly reached her shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing down here?" he irritably spoke. Seeing Bruce, he raised exposed brow, "Dr. Banner?"

Bruce grabbed his hand and threw it off of Jane. "She knows something about the wormholes that the others need to know about. There's no time to waste with telling one person before. She's tracked another potential wormhole."

When Nick's attention was over Bruce, Jane snatched his earpiece and shoved it in her ear. "Avengers?"

Simultaneously, various voices acknowledged her, question and confusion dripping in their tones. "Dr. Foster?"

"There's no time to explain, but in a nutshell, another wormhole will be opening over the Chukotski peninsula in Russia in the village of Uelen. I've tracked the trajectory of all of the wormholes, and they trace the 66th parallel. My wormhole must have created a disturbance at that level somehow.

"When Johann Schmidt had control of the Tesseract, one of his cohorts named Yuri Ivanov craved to create an identical artifact—an artificial replication of the Tesseract. His theory is unimportant for the moment. His methods were vicious.

"I can't be sure if he somehow lives, though it was documented that he was killed by the Soviet Union. Someone has followed this information enough to use my disturbance to test out this artificial twin to the Tesseract. I'm sure of it. If you don't stop this, wormholes will appear across this parallel and the world may be threated for extinction.

"This isn't a theory. This is truth. The prototype of the Tesseract would mean the end of humanity in the hands of someone continuing this project. I'm unsure if this prototype has already been manufactured, but something is being used to open more wormholes," she rushed, her breath nonexistent.

"How have you traced the wormholes to the 66th parallel?" Steve Rogers asked.

"In plain English, I observed the magnetosphere activity and noticed a common frequency of the particles' movement. The frequency is at normal levels across the globe except in the three active wormhole sights. I traced the line to see if there were any other signs of new activity, and I found it in Uelen. This is the exact village Ivanov conducted his research. There has to be a connection."

"How come you knew this about Ivanov and SHIELD did not?" Agent Barton asked, his tone tense.

Jane's features tightened. "I've taken the time to try to understand the source of power the Tesseract runs on. I haven't found anything, but in my search, I came across this man and the purpose of his project."

"Is there anything else you can tell us, Jane?" she heard Thor ask.

Biting her lip, she shook her head, "Unfortunately, no, but this is vital. Someone has to go look into this; otherwise, the events in New York will look like child's play."

"Could Loki be a part of this?" Tony inquired.

Rolling her eyes, "Loki would have shown himself by now. Besides, he's hiding from something. It's not anything human. I have a feeling that the beings my wormhole brought about are somehow related to the outbreak in the Chitauri, but I don't have any way of knowing what these things are. Our first priority should be locating this disturbance before it has time to escalate any further."

"How can you be so sure that Loki isn't involved?" Dr. Banner asked, a headset in his ear.

"Because of the fact that the Chitauri came back at all. They seek him out. He's more than likely weakened and needs time to recover. He may be ambitious, but he's no one to run willingly into death, right?" she reasoned, hoping they would stop questioning her of Loki.

"I suppose that makes sense," Natasha said, her voice silk against fire. "Dr. Banner, is there anything you would amend in what she's telling us?"

"No, I saw the same charts and figures. I'll go check into it myself. The rest of you keep the Chitauri busy," Bruce answered back.

"Bruce?" Natasha called.

"Hmm?" he drew, enjoying the sound of her voice forming his name.

"Be careful, and call us if you find anything," she told him.

"Likewise, Agent Romanoff."

The contact was broken and Jane fell to her knees, out of breath completely, her hands steadying herself on her knees. "Man, I'm so out of shape."

Jane was caught off guard by a loud bang against a metal table.

"Would anyone like to include me in any plans? Last I checked, I was in charge here," Fury shouted, livid. Veins bulged from his temples.

Standing, Jane crossed her arms and tapped her foot, "I'm sorry. This couldn't wait."

"Just leave the bridge, Dr. Foster. You're purpose here is over," he bitterly hissed.

"You need to relax, Fury. Without her, we would have never known that," Banner reminded, threatening.

"Those words coming from a compacted vessel of anger. Comical," he said. He walked over to Jane. "I knew you knew more than you let on."

Shifting his attention to Banner, he turned his back to Jane and motioned for Bruce to walk with him, telling him to prepare for the journey within thirty minutes.

Jane was escorted back to her room and was told to stay there, but no guard was assigned to see that she did.

When the door closed, Jane lightly grunted, desiring no further attention from anyone outside.

"Loki, you're eventually going to have to make yourself known. I am growing tired of this place, but not yet. I have to find out where they have placed the Tesseract. It's not safe here," she explained.

Loki observed her momentarily from the window. The mortal fell to the bed. His pale eyes noted that she appeared to be distressed. This human woman was wise beyond her resources. Perhaps this Ivanov man was crazy, but to actually claim to hear voices from the Tesseract...

Loki had not heard such. He had been of reasonable mind.

But still, the idea intrigued him so.

He hesitantly moved like a shadow beside her on the bed. And when he was situated next to her, she glanced up to him tentatively. Before he asked her the question he reserved in his mind for a moment such as this, her head leaned on his shoulder.

"I just need comfort," she murmured against his Asgardian armor.

He felt her shaking, realizing that she was against him. Closing his eyes, he swiftly placed his hands in his lap, clutching dangerously tight. Initially, he wanted to pry her away, unused to such a word as comfort anymore. Yet, something in him beckoned him to indulge her. His body seemed to absorb each wave of her odd movements.

Opening his eyes, he uttered, "It is quite all right."

His hands remained awkwardly beside her as he realized that bravery wasn't mutually exclusive with blades or blood. And that acknowledgement frightened him.  
\---------------

To be continued...


	8. When We Fall

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Dark Paradise by Lana Del Rey

And there's no remedy for memory, your face is like a melody,  
It won't leave my head; your soul is haunting me  
And telling me that everything is fine; but I wish I was dead—dead like you.

Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise  
No one compares to you. I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side.

There's no relief; I see you in my sleep.   
And everybody's rushing me, but I can feel you touching me  
There's no release; I feel you in my dreams telling me I'm fine.

Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise  
No one compares to you. I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 

Chapter 8

After the previous day's events, Jane's temperament altered tremendously. Everyone could see it in the way she carried herself.

No longer was a spark buried in her eyes. No longer was the very spirit she possessed when studying the wormholes.

She no longer sassed Nick Fury when they had reached a heated point in their conversation earlier.

She'd mentioned something regarding the Tesseract.

Blindly, Fury had told her she would never be able to see it if she didn't tell him everything she knew—everything she was hiding.

Jane's reply was silence.

Fighting against the melancholy any longer was pointless. A smile was now a chore. Her eyes were downcast, instead of high and alert. Her posture was hunched. Her speech was curt, to the point, and rarely meaningful.

Jane Foster was sad.

She had the right to be, or so she thought.

Without notice, the date of her father's murder had crept up on her like a hidden shadow dwelling in the corners of the night waiting to strangle its owner in their sleep. Without notice, she had opened the 66th parallel for a possible outbreak of death.

Among the other problems, she missed Thor. Not exactly in such a way that indicated romantic interest, but their comfortable companionship.

Where she spoke, he listened without much substance. Where she asked, he answered unalloyed. He was open, predictable in his words, actions, and character.

He was familiar amidst an unfamiliar period of time.

She still desired to know of his stories as a child, too! What it had been like growing up in Asgard and with Loki? What constellations had he seen growing up? Were they the same to the ones she grew up with here on earth? With they different? And, if so, how did they differ?

She hungered for more answers about the realms...and just about everything about his world, his dreams, his life.

Jane still couldn't bring herself to ask Loki about much. He had seen the realms with a different, darker lens. She didn't want that to skew the possibility of happiness and glory elsewhere.

Selfish, she cowardly thought.

Expressionless, she sat in a low-lit library and stared at the photo of her father in a book she found about his line of work. It had caught her off guard, but the discovery had been welcome.

The last pair of tears concurrently glossed her skin, trailing down her cheek and onto the page of the book.

"Not a day goes by that I don't wish I could just go back to being your stupid, little girl," she spoke as soft of silk against the silence of the darkened room to the portrait of her father.

Had it already been twelve years? she mused bitterly.

She'd been fifteen when it happened. He hadn't the time to see her win her first science fair, nor her first date. While Jane knew she wasn't walking down any aisle in the foreseeable future, he'd miss that, too.

Everything was robbed from not just him, but also her.

Aching, she looked toward the dwelling fire in its pit. At long last, she finally allowed herself a few minutes to mourn her father.

It hadn't helped her one bit, though.

"Ridiculous," she chided, wiping away fresh, falling tears. Straightening her spine, she shook her body as if to ward away her pain. Oddly, it did.

Briefly, she though about her plans to retrieve the Tesseract, her theories, and Loki.

He baffled her to the point where simply thinking of him made her skin crawl; yet, he did not do so in such a way that caused her to dislike him. Odd that the reaction she was granted upon his entry into her thoughts would be similar to that of irritation. But she did not dislike him, nor did his presence irritate her overwhelmingly.

He was just...complicated. And she hated not being able to understand everything.

The laws of nature demanded her hatred of him.

He was a killer, a betrayer, and a liar.

A light thump creased the silence. The noise was almost unheard, but Jane's concentration was heightened enough for her to catch it.

"What are you doing here, Loki?" Jane spoke, her voice lackluster, dull, like a diamond in the dark.

"I'm surprised you were able to catch me at all," he replied, showing himself from the darkness of the furthest corner of the room. He paced toward her and joined her on a leather couch in the center of the library facing the fire.

The gentle pull of her eyes showed little patience. "Were you watching me?"

He either heard her and refused to answer, or he didn't catch her soft question. Who was she kidding? He heard her for sure.

"Why are you here at all? I want to be alone."

Loki's features hardened, feigning offense, "So, you don't want to see me?"

"No," she insisted, "I don't want you in here or around me." For emphasis, she repeated, "I want to be alone."

"Jane, you understand what good solitude does for a weak heart," he pointedly began. Eventually, he finished, "Nothing."

"What do you know about what I've gone through, huh?" she raised, scooting as far away from him on the couch as possible. She pulled her hands to her face, "I sound like a whiny teenager."

Loki swallowed, awkwardly patient. "You've been cursed with my memories, Jane," he mentioned, adding, "And I yours."

Standing, she stomped her foot into the rug. Hard. "What have you seen? Tell me right now!" Jane hissed, tears distorting her gaze in the orange glow of the fire.

Loki eventually rose from the couch, towering over her. She turned her back to him, and he closed the quaint distance until his chest flush against her frame.

Above the fireplace was a large antique mirror that displayed them from Jane's waist and above. She stared at their reflection as he kept his cool gaze down at her, his eyes warmed by the orange that burst throughout the room from the fire.

As the fire flickered, growing weaker, a new shadow burned from Jane's features. In some moments, Loki could see a faint glimmer emanating from her left eye. And like a star's wink, her eyes were concealed by the blackness. The next moment revealed a moving shine from her cheek.

She was crying. Her body remained still, but he could not mistake those quiet, thick tears.

The top of her head leaned back, resting against him at his chest. In this moment, she was a fragment of a living entity—broken, devastated. Loki felt his chest tighten.

"What have you seen?" she murmured against the library's impenetrable reticence.

"Your father. Only your father," he confessed as quietly as she'd articulated, his voice like a soft blade through her core.

Upon his admission, her body lamely backed into him, leaning on him, depending on him. She stood even shorter against his tall stature. Her eyes left her reflection and lifted to meet his eyes through the mirror.

"You've seen the murder."

Loki situated his gaze to hers, "Yes."

"Great." She sat back down.

He did, too.

He cleared his throat quickly. "Would you prefer to discuss the matter?"

Her muscles spasmed, causing her to sit upright. "Do what?"

"You heard me."

Jane groaned. Why was he here? "You heard me first."

"I don't know of what you refer."

"Momentary stupidity. Classic."

"Foster?"

A sigh escaped her. "For once, just get to the point. I'm too tired to guess at what you're really trying to say."

He scooted closer toward her. "Perhaps I want to help."

"But you've already seen it..."

"That," he whispered. He took an unsteady breath and nudged a little closer to her. His eyes became hesitant while he continued, "is true, but I know it alleviates a bit of pain if you discuss things of this nature."

Jane smiled. There was only one way that he'd back down. "Tell me something first."

Immediately, she gathered his uncomforted by simply looking at him. His coloring had heightened slightly. His eyes lowered from hers. He began to shy away from her.

"I cannot mention the details, but Thor is not my brother...Nor is Odin my father," he uttered lowly.

She bit her lip. "I knew that," she paused, catching the surprised expression embedded in his features. "Thor's told me quite recently. I'm sure you don't want to hear about him. It's not my place to try and play matchmaker with you two, either. I thought I should just let you know how I knew that."

"I-I-I can't believe he would-" he choked.

Jane moved her hand over his, but he instantly tore it away from her. He shot up from the couch and he paced while his hands shook. "Loki, please stop making this about your drama with Thor. Really, you were doing so well by asking about me for once."

"You think it is easy to always be so heinously treated by someone whom you've revered to be your brother?" he said, emotions bared on his armor in an unusual display.

The scientist shook her head. "What powers do you have?"

What do you know of-" he barked mindlessly. After a moment, he glanced at her and tilted his head to the left, "Why are you asking?"

Jane slapped her hands together, sealing them over her lap, "I think you need a little distracting, Loki."

He stood his ground. Jane calculated that he was at least ten feet away from her. When he wasn't moving, speaking, or breathing, she stood up and timidly walked over to him with her hands joined in front of her. When he looked at her, his gaze became too heavy for her own, so she lowered her eyes to her hands.

"When you're with me, Loki, it's so hard to see you as a monster," she confessed. Her eyes looked at the wall as if it would provide her help with what words she wanted to speak. Alas, no such luck from it.

"But?"

The syllable gathered her gaze in his again. "I've seen every piece of who you are. The one who tries to kill me when I push you too far. The one who helps me when I need to stop thinking so damn much. The...the Loki who is lonely," Jane rambled. When he stepped closer to her, she held up her hand. "Why are you being so unpredictable?"

"Because that is who I've become, Jane Foster."

"That solves everything."

She turned her head, but he caught her cheek and tugged on her chin so that she looked at him again, "What needs solving?"

The mortal released the walls she hid behind momentarily. As she blinked, she was sure her mouth became a flat line, and her eyes became unguarded. "What is this between us? This connection, our time together. Whatever you want to include, what is it?"

"Why must everything be precisely labeled?" he pointed out. His fingers slid down her face until the long, pale limbs lingered on her neck.

Her eyes narrowed, "Because where I come from, it creates order and organization." Exasperated, the mortal woman bent her head so that it rested against his chest. "Because who I am thrives on answers and knowing precisely what things are."

"Then, perhaps we could call it an alliance?"

Her head lifted as her brow arched accordingly, "Huh? Are you suggesting that we're friends?"

"We could be."

The fire cracked, pulling her away from gazing intently into his clear eyes illuminated in a fascinating manner. "I think that ship has sailed."

"Pardon?"

A laugh broke Jane's tense mouth, "Sorry, that's a human expression. I mean that in what world could we be friends?"

He shrugged, "Why not this one?"

"You know what will happen at the end of this journey. You'll be imprisioned for probably centuries. By then, I'd be dead."

"I won't be rendered to the Asgardian dungeons," he fought.

"You will."

"No-"

"Yes, Loki. You're asking me die waiting for the day that won't come. It's exactly the promise I can't pledge to Thor," she countered.

Immediately, she pulled away from him and turned her back to him. She stared at the fire again.

"Will you at least tell me what happened? In exchange for what I confided...regardless of the fact that you knew," he said coldly.

He moved behind her, but did not touch her anymore.

She peered over her shoulder and met his gaze. "I suppose so," she replied gently. She situated her head so that it was focused on a mirror above the fire.

She took a breath in and released it accordingly. "I need a drink."

Loki smiled, something in his expression unrecognizable to Jane's notice. Through bared teeth, he said, "I can arrange for that."

— — — — — — — — — — — —

"Loki, you must drink more! I can't," she paused, hiccupping lowly, "be the only one to drink."

"You are already influenced?" he inquired, his tone mocking, playful.

"Precisely," she mocked, holding the goblet Loki had transfigured from a book in her left hand up as if cheering to something.

He laughed, pressing his hands against his ebony trousers, "I'm a terrible villain when I am."

Jane tapped her palm against her knee, cackling loudly. Her right hand covered her mouth, but she only laughed more. "Some would argue you're a terrible villain in any state of mind."

Despite an instant retort for her statement, Loki simply chuckled, still electrified from their chaste kiss, the moment forever branded against his heart. "Are you feeling agreeable?"

"More than that! Invincible!" she said, lifting herself from the couch onto her knees. Stumbling, she lost her center of balance and neatly fell against his protective arms on the couch. Catching one more laugh, she fixed her position on the cough, crossing her legs and facing Loki. "How are you?"

Loki swallowed, nervous, "Entirely contented, Jane."

Jane whined, "Perhaps I should tell you now, huh?" Hic. A sweet smile pried her mouth from the frown it rested in.

"Perhaps," he agreed.

"I'd only just come home from school that day. I went upstairs to put up my things. I heard the phone ring, so I answered it from my father's phone in his room. It was Erik calling for my father. They were not only partners in research, but also very close friends—brothers, even," she explained.

When he thought she would not speak further, she drew breath slowly and lowered her gaze from his in the mirror.

Finally, her eyes rose again.

"When I shouted for my father, I heard him scream at someone. The words were undetected, but sounded similar to a no," pausing, she wiped with her fingertips at her eyes, lowering her hands, "The man was moving up the stairs after he'd shot my father. I assume my father told him he was alone to protect me."

Her exhale was sharp, instant, "I didn't even hear a gunshot. There was no way I could have known. As I approached the stairs, I saw a man slowly ascending the steps toward me. I didn't know what to do, so I ran into my father's room and found his gun underneath his bed.

"I walked out of the room, and shouted at the man to stop, that I would shoot. He only stepped further. He laughed at me, disbelieving. As he continued to walk toward me, slowly, he put his gun on a nearby table and began to unbuckle his belt, shifting his pants from left to right."

Jane's left arm moved over to her right arm, moving up and down swiftly as if she were cold, "He meant to rape me. I didn't know what else to do, so I shot him as soon as he reached the top of the steps. He looked at me, his arm reaching toward me, and he never stopped smiling. His body tumbled down the steps. Finally, I wailed, calling out for my father."

She lowered her head and her chest heaved, her left hand covering her eyes.

Loki remained still, fearing that if he moved, she would break away from him. He swallowed down a bitter pain, but manipulated his features to resemble a neutral, supportive expression.

Sobbing, Jane shook her head and glanced back up, feebly, "I stood there for some time, trying to figure out what had just happened, but eventually, I ran down the stairs, passing the man in the green plaid shirt to go to my father. I fell to my knees before him, gently bringing his head into my lap. I didn't cry in that instant—only gazed down at him, shushing him multiple times, smiling ignorantly."

"Jane…green…man…I…see," he whispered, shaking in between each word.

"He began to look away from me, causing me to also look up, only to see absolutely nothing. I placed my hand over his cheek and stroked it until his last breath. By then, the police had arrived. I suppose Erik heard the whole encounter while I placed him on hold while I got my father. He must have been the one to call the police," she finished.

Loki stood there in silence. Jane felt him move his hand over her exposed arm, his index finger tracing an invisible trail from her wrist bone to just below her elbow. She shivered, turning her head to look at him, still turned from him, over her shoulder.

She found him staring enchantingly down at her, his helmet framing his features. He bent toward her and she found herself easing toward him, standing on her toes. Her right arm rose and her hand fit in the small space between his helmet and his armor behind his neck, a gentle pressure from her fingertips guiding him toward her.

Her face tilted to the left, as did his, minutely, and their noses brushed, soft, warm skin colliding against tight, cold flesh. He released the breath caught in his chest, tickling over her face. She exhaled softly, and he closed his eyes, as if savoring what he felt.

Hic.

Jane immediately stumbled away. "No," she slurred confidently. "This isn't right."

She watched him moved toward her in an instant. He reached for her arm and shifted his grasp over her wrist, he gently brushed his lips over her palm. "You're wrong, Jane, but I understand."

Now she was confused, but too drunk to press further in interrogation. She shrugged, "Okay."

He eased her back to the couch and sat further away from her than she thought he would. In an instant, she got caught up in gaping at him without regard of the fact that he watched while she stared him down.

A smile slowly grew over her lips. Her head tilting, she drew closer to him, though kept a minimal distance from him. Her gaze rose to his helmet, "Do you ever take it off?"

Stilling, Loki appeared as if he had seen Erik Selvig streaking across the clouds. Interest in his eyes piqued. "To what do you imply?"

Jane giggled, setting the goblet on the nearby table, she replaced her attention over his helmet, her fingers lightly touching the horns, "This."

A smile gathered at his mouth, releasing a breath and laughing all at once, "Oh, that. Yes, when I'm not in any danger."

"Are you in any danger now, Loki?" Jane said, a bit too smoothly, a bit too heavy. Despite knowing better, she inched closer toward the god of mischief.

Shifting his torso, he maneuvered himself to face her, an arm resting against the back of the dark leather sofa. "No. No, I am not."

"Then, I think it should be taken off. As cool as it looks on your head, I'd really like to see you without it," she replied, removing her gaze from him in order to drink again.

While her attention was busied, he stole a glance at her, his stare burning, yearning, "All right." He took it off and held it in the air, dissolving the heavy headpiece. He felt bare among her eyes.

She glanced back to him and beamed, "Your hair matches the glorious color of when you're in the form of Kalt! Beautiful."

He lifted his hand to cover his smile and the rising temperature gnawing through his skin. Eventually, he lowered his pale hand and blinked twice, "You are so exposed when you are like this."

"It's why I don't drink, to be honest," she explained. "I only drink when I'm really confused, sad, or both. In graduate school, I was very interested in this boy, for he surely was no man, and he dared me to drink until I felt uplifted from this world. So I did. After I was absolutely hammered, he asked me about an assignment that was due in a few days. I told him about mine, and he stole it all. He claimed my research for himself."

Hic. She frowned, "That seems to happen a lot with my research."

Loki chuckled, observing her in his silence.

"College was such a weird time for me. I was so ready to move forward in my life, but I needed degrees in order to receive grants. My father always said that I shouldn't waste so much of my time with science. He actually blamed science for ruining his marriage. I suppose his logic wasn't entire flawed, as I haven't had the time to pursue anyone for real," she reflected, her frown growing.

"May I inquire about your father?" he requested, his tone guarded.

"Sure," she said, "His name was Harry Emerson Foster. He worked for many different labs across the world, but his life calling was studying the constellations. He nurtured my wealth of knowledge. He always believed he would have a son, and when I was born, he thought for sure that I would be a dimwitted girl. He was sorely surprised when I chose to go to science camp, instead of dancing camp every summer.

"Each year for my birthday, he would take off the whole day and take me to the deserts in New Mexico to gaze at the stars. He told me about his theories about other worlds. He was fascinated with mythology, but I wasn't. I rarely listened to him tell me about any stories from mythology. I wanted facts, and where I couldn't find facts, I would discover them. In mythology, I thought they were just stories. For the most part, they are.

"I was three when he divorced my mom. He always told me that he would be a bad father. For the most part, he was. He rarely ever talked to me. He was busy—too busy for a family. Yet he always made time for us. We never celebrated any faith or holidays. I rarely saw him throughout my youth. He loved me, but he loved his work more. I knew it. Everyone did. Despite sometimes being bitter toward science, he knew without it, he would die, cease to exist.

"I always wanted something like that. Something that against all odds gives you pleasure and happiness," Jane finished, sadly taking another sip from the goblet.

Loki moved closer to her, "For you, it is what you call science."

She shook her head, "I could never marry a molecule. Atoms can't comfort me. Theories cannot sustain conversation with me. So, no. Not entirely."

He sat back, and Jane frowned, "What?"

He looked away and stood up, "I hear footsteps. We need to get back to our room." He shifted into his wolf form quickly.

Jane stood as the handle on the door shook, opening. "You're still up, Dr. Foster?" a guard asked.

"Yea, I couldn't sleep, but I was just about to head back to my room, thanks."

"Need an escort?" he offered briefly.

Shaking her head, she tried to appear as sober as possible. "Let me clean up here, and I'll be on my way." She turned to collect the goblet, but it was already gone. "Nevermind, I will head back now."

"Have a good night, Dr. Foster."

"You, too," she murmured as the guard moved out of the library, leaving the door open.

Jane glanced down at Kalt and bit her lip.

It had not been wise to drink with a man like Loki. She nearly kissed him.

And now that her inhibitions were heightening again, she sensed they'd have big trouble ahead of them if she didn't watch herself...Note to self: Do not drink. Again.

After all, after everything was over, he would go back to Asgard for sentencing, leaving her in his shadow. She tore her gaze from him and looked anywhere else.

The wolf beside her whined.

"Let's go."

Whatever the costs, Jane would not let herself be hurt by another god of Asgard.

At all costs, she would deflect the feelings that had taken her unaware.

She feared that he would be the end.

And she could not have that.

To be continued...

The edited version of chapter 9 will be out by Monday, January 12, 2015. Thanks for reading!


	9. When We Heal

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Dark Paradise by Lana Del Rey

And there's no remedy for memory, your face is like a melody,  
It won't leave my head; your soul is haunting me  
And telling me that everything is fine; but I wish I was dead—dead like you.

Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise  
No one compares to you. I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side.

There's no relief; I see you in my sleep.   
And everybody's rushing me, but I can feel you touching me  
There's no release; I feel you in my dreams telling me I'm fine.

Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise  
No one compares to you. I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 

Chapter 9

"AH!" Natasha yelped as a shard of glass cut through her black suit and into her side under her breast. The piece was thick and etched across one of her ribs. Kneeling, Natasha's breath began to quicken as her vision shook between clarity to obscurity. Hearing footsteps near, she twitched her head over her shoulder, seeing at least fifteen Chitauri nearing her.

Her strength was fleeting. Wounds from previous encounters were already slowing her down.

Panic edged into her stomach.

"Not today," she muttered, standing up as quickly as her trembling body would allow. Leaning against a car, she was able to turn around and pull her gun upward, shooting the creatures in the face, throat, and chest. Some died. Others reluctantly stood, closing in on her.

Cursing, she looked at one of the Chitauri and choked on a bitter taste of fear. Her eyes watered. Blood rushed out of her body at an alarming pace. Her left hand crossed over her body and cradled the wound. Her vision began to fade black, shuttering between light and the need for sight.

She frantically shot at the disfigured forms still able to be seen. Her bullets expired.

Romanoff threw her gun away into the darkness, barely conscious.

Time slowed.

Tears felt like lead.

Natasha was painfully aware of the slow beating of her heart. Her pulse was in her ears, the music of her lifeblood.

She wasn't ready to die.

This wasn't fair.

Her stiffening, shaking hand lifted to her ear. "Avengers. SHIELD. It's been an absolute pleasure working with you. I thought I would see a happy ending someday after this mess, but let's face it. They've won. Loki started this, but we cannot finish it. Goodbye, friends."

Before she could hear anything from her comrades, she took earpiece in her hand and threw it to the ground beside her. Fumbling around over her suit, she took out seven small knives. The hand over the wound eventually began to take the shard out.

"AH!" she desperately shrieked. Oddly, she regained her vision long enough to see the end of a Chitauri weapon at her throat.

Smirking arrogantly, she shifted her shoulders to let her head fall to her left. Her eyes met the treacherous face of the monster about to claim her life. Quickly, she threw two of the knives at the bastard's exposed face.

The creature fell, unmoving.

Another approached her quickly. Throwing another small knife, another Chitauri fell. And then another. And another.

Eventually, silence ensued. The lack of incoming footsteps allowed her to sigh, relieved.

Moving awkwardly, Natasha was able to adjust herself against the car so she was lying on her back, observing the grey, smoke-filled sky. Just barely, the clouds peeked through the dark flying debris: papers, clothes, and soot.

In the background, she could only hear car alarms and cries for help, eventually quieting. Another dead. And then another.

The women wept precisely three tears.

Her eyes dried.

In the melancholy tones of the air above, Natasha swore she saw a flash of a large green body. Suddenly, closing her eyes, she was back on the deck back on base.

"You care for him."

Her lungs felt heavy. She'd never admitted such a truth to herself, but she nodded. "When Loki was here, he told me that he would use Barton to kill me slowly, so that he may witness utter torture for himself. And after he used him to kill me, Loki would kill him even slower."

"And that made you realize what you felt."

"Exactly, but since New York, he hasn't spoken to me. I just want to be near him, but how can I with everything going on?" she added, emotion lingering at her lips.

Closing the distance between them, he wrapped his arms around her and an unspoken message pulse through their embrace. "Cry," he ordered. And she did. She needed to. Her heart would soon weight too much to remain where it rested in her chest.

Both of her hands covered her face and she quietly sobbed, only allowing him to catch the act. He shifted his hold to where one arm cradled her lower back, fingers spread, and one arm steadied her shoulders.

Lowering his head, he closed his eyes and buried his face in her short red hair, breathing in her scent. His lips brushed softly over the exposed flesh of her neck, his breath heavier than appropriate.

She felt right in his arms, but he could not say this much. Being near her had stifled his rage temporarily. He realized that the shaking body between them wasn't she, but his own.

"Natasha," he desperately whispered against her skin. He needed to withdraw from her, but she still needed him for comfort. So, he gently tightened his arms over her body, bringing her closer.

Responding, Natasha lifted her head from him and he mimicked the action. Their faces nearly stood at the same height, Bruce only three inches taller than she. Their noses brushed, though she moved away from him to view his features in full. Her hand smoothed his disheveled hair lightly.

"Bruce, you won't like my request, but I want to see the Hulk."

"Bruce," she murmured against the blood raising in her throat. Two more tears fell, synchronizing to the lethal pace of her failing heartbeat. One tear was for the moments she'd spent with him. The other fell to mourn the loss of the moments they could have had together.

Suddenly, she felt her heart clench, but not because of death.

"'You care for him,'" she repeated. Shivering, she idly moved her head up and minutely down. "Yes," she answered herself.

"You're not stupid," he spoke matter-of-factly.

"Compared to you, I'd argue that I was."

Shrugging, he chuckled lowly, "So I know a few things about gamma rays."

"To me, that's impressive."

His smile grew, "Then, that's all that matters, I suppose. But you're still not stupid."

Struggling with the smile that threatened, she sighed. "Why are you doing this, Bruce?"

Suddenly, his resolve darkened, but he still smiled slightly. Looking her directly in the eyes, he told her, "Because you're the only woman that I've tried to kill who doesn't hate me."

"Dr. Banner, I don't harbor grudges," she replied quietly, casting an interested glance down at the wine glass still dwindling before her. She brought her attention back to him, though.

"No, but you get what paying a debt is."

Her short red hair was teased with the light breeze passing by. She could swear she felt him on her skin; his touch vacant, absent, but present. Their time together had not been prolonged, nor expected. She would keep her thoughts with her in death. Eventually, she would be able to greet him kindly in the afterlife.

Her breathing erratically stirred. Her chest heaved as she pushed through the last moments of her life, needing a few more moments to reflect. Death could collect her soul in a few moments, she thought dryly.

Her vision faded to black. No longer would she see anything. She didn't need sight; she had memories. Laughter, life, spirit. These warmed her soul. She briefly thought of Clint. He'd been with her through a lot of hell. But she couldn't take him with her. Not this time.

He would grieve her death, but he would be okay. That's how he was. She would always remember her denial of the feelings he'd given to her. She would keep those in his honor and use them to remember her life fondly.

She would not be taken. She was a willing participant in death.

Swallowing, she could no longer feel her legs or arms.

Her chest felt like it was caving in on her. Breathing was now a struggle. It was impossible. Has she possessed sight, she would swear she was flying. Briefly, she felt a something large brush her cheek. Finally, a roar.

Then, nothing.

— — — — — — — — — — — —

"Natasha?" Clint broke through the static of the ear piece. "Answer me, now!"

"Get her here! We cannot afford to lose anyone!" Nick shouted, ordering, pleading. His eyes stung. Coiling his fists, he slammed his arm against the pillar he used to support his body.

"Fury, she's gone. The Hulk had her and now Thor has her. He's is on his way with her. We have to withdraw. Something is creating more Chitauri as one dies. We've secured Alaska and White Island. Norway is different. Steve is injured. The Hulk is on a rampage. My power supply will soon fail. We need to get out so we can regroup," Tony argued. He turned the suit to the left in order to avoid a ball of light. "We've been at this for days..."

"...Fine," Fury spat. He could not believe the amount of failure this mission had become. They needed more help. But there was no one left. "I cannot believe this. Bruce didn't even get to Uelen." Upon hearing about the weight of the situation in Norway, he'd turned the pilot around to aid Natasha and Steve, Fury reflected.

"We're in need of a miracle," he spoke privately to no one in particular.

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Thor paced. He wasn't terribly wounded, but his friends were. He was troubled. Ultimately, the last few days had been nonstop. He'd reunited with Lady Sif—an unexpectedly refreshing surprise. Following, all Helheim was breaking loose, it seemed.

No one was able to explain the events in the frigid place known as Norway. With all of his knowledge of the nine realms, he could not gather a concrete decision about the events traversing all around the Avengers.

Patiently, he waited outside the operating room on the SHIELD base, which had luckily been flying close to the town in Norway. Natasha may be saved. Any more time away from healers and she might have perished.

With his hammer in his left hand, he stood near the window, his vivid blue hues observing with confusion. In battle, he had thought nothing of Loki. He missed him, despite all that had transpired between them.

In Thor's opinion, they were still family. He would always be Loki's brother. They'd grown up together. That kinship should have meant something as equally humbling to Loki. Thor did not understand why the sentiment was lost where Loki was concerned.

Sighing, he placed the hammer on a nearby table and leaned against the wall, his back to the lifeless view of Agent Romanoff.

Hearing a shuffle of the door handle, Thor's form straightened. He had sent word for Jane to see him...hours ago. He needed her company if she could not give him guidance.

A quiet step rounding a corner pulled Thor's attention back to reality. As he peered before him, he saw Lady Sif.

"Hello, Lady Sif."

She nodded once, "Good day, Thor."

"Is there something needing my attention?" he asked hesitantly. He really wanted to see how Jane fared...

"I was wondering if I could stay with you to watch over this mortal." She was straight to the point as always.

He mimicked her nod. "Of course, my friend."

A moment fell between them where neither of them spoke. Thor peeked over at the warrior in his peripheral. She stood stoic, strong, and straight. Many men had called her the perfect warrior. Many of her underlings thought her to appear subservient to him, but capable enough to hold her ground just the same.

She had always been his friend.

He relied on her.

"Thor, if I may be so bold..."

His head turned. "Go on."

"I have kept a close eye on your mortal, Jane Foster," Sif began. Her eyes never left the healers operating on the woman. "I am not pleased with what I've gathered."

"Which is?"

"There is no easy way to say this, but I feel she may know information regarding Loki's whereabouts. What the information is still unknown, but I feel it is best to try and persuade the information from her so that we may continue our search for your brother," she curtly mentioned in a lowered tone.

Thor laughed. "Jane wouldn't help Loki. Besides, I do not believe her capable of keeping information of such magnitude to herself."

Finally, Sif gazed over at him. "If that is what you believe, then I shall comply with your instinct," the warrior plainly stated. Before turning away, she paused again and allowed her features to melt with worry, "But, Thor, if you ever feel that you could trust my lead, I would hope you would allow me to assist you. You cannot handle this on your own."

Smugly, he shook his head. "Thank you for your guidance, Lady Sif...as always," he spat.

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Jane peeked around the iron door, smiling against the natural glow of her skin. She was magnificent, breathtaking.

The god of thunder exhaled, his smile fading. "I'm in need of your company, Jane."

Her features darkened, her brows furrowing toward the center of her face, "What's wrong? You weren't hurt were you?"

"No, I wasn't wounded. I worry for my friends, and I confess to worrying about my brother, too," Thor admitted quietly, his hands reaching out toward her.

She came in closer toward him and grabbed his hands in hers.

Her touch was bitter, frosty, icy. It nearly shocked him. He decided that he would warm her up, so he brought her in even closer to an idle embrace, sitting down on the bench behind them both.

He was displeased when Jane pulled away from him.

Jane's eyes wandered down at their joined hands and bit her lip. Her eyes glossed over. "What would you like to talk about?"

"Are you well, Jane? Your grasp is nearly as bitter as Jotunheim," Thor digressed, clearly more worried for her wellbeing for now.

Jane shifted, but kept up her reserve, her features never wavering. "My room is very cold," she replied, sweetly.

Thor's features darkened. "They still treat you substantially less than you deserve?"

Shaking her head, she tightened her grasp over his, "Oh, no. I just forgot to ask them to change the temperature back. That's all."

"Good," he finished casually. Both were painfully aware of the awkward tension built up from their last encounter. Twitching his thumb, he brought her focus back up to his eyes, "Preferably Loki."

She shook her head, "What about him?"

The Asgardian smirked, "I wish to discuss the matter of my brother, Loki. That is what you asked just now, after all."

A nod was her response.

Clearing his throat, he began, "I miss him dearly. My brother will never change, though. You cannot mistake my disquiet toward him for wishing he was here."

"Why not?" she hesitantly inquired, her light brown eyes absorbing his gaze.

"If Loki were here, our encounter would not be pleasant. I would be forced to take him back to Asgard for sentencing," he told her.

"Oh, what if he's changed his attitude toward all of this?" Jane asked, the words stacking, "What if he was remorseful?"

Lowering a brow, Thor shifted his head, pulling it back. "Why are you saying these things? You weren't there in New York. You don't know a shred of information of him."

"Be that as it may, I'd argue that you didn't either—know him," she quickly spoke, inwardly wincing at her words.

He threw her hands away from him and stood up, shoving his fist into the wall, cracking into tiny lightning shapes that travelled outside of the epicenter a few inches. Grunting, he turned to her. She flinched when she fully analyzed the look he gave her.

"You know nothing of the man I was prior to my banishment!" he raged, his eyes enflamed.

Quietly, she looked away, stood, and stepped toward him so she was daringly close. Eyes never leaving his, she narrowed her lids, "You wanted my advice, Thor. You asked me for company. Why can you never receive anything but pretty, stupid words...words you'd like to hear?"

"I am sorry, Jane, but please do not speak of my brother as if he was your cohort," he pleaded, his tone sincerely lost, broken. He'd calmed down a bit in her chiding him. She was a mortal, and he a god. She was more fragile than he realized, but so was he.

"Don't talk to me as if I'm not on the same level as you are. Without my help in New Mexico, you would have been lost. You would have been as pigheaded as before—if not even more! I'm not as helpless as I seem, Thor," she angrily reminded him. She stepped back, but his arms crashed around her.

His face was close to hers. His arms were strong around her body. They nearly crushed her form. They were safe, practical, and familiar. Her eyes moved from side to side, searching for anything to make her confusion about everything go away. She felt his breath sting her skin.

Thor should have been the one to make her feel alive. Thor was supposed to be her hero. He was strong, masculine, and bold. Shaking—stifling the urge to cry in frustration—Jane struggled in his embrace, but he slammed his lips against hers.

Her brows closed in toward the center of her face. Disgust settled over her body. In every second that passed, she continued to struggle against him. When that didn't work, she moved her head away from him, murmuring, "Thor, stop."

He reached her chin and pulled her toward him again. His lips were bruised and rough. In his madness, he kept adding pressure around her waist. Her eyes shed tears, and her mouth released from his to release the roar of pain.

Her vision went fuzzy. Time slowed. Everything went silent. Only her sharp, unsteady breaths could be recalled.

Faintly, she heard Thor bellow in pain, bellowing, "Bruce! Stop!"

Silence.

Nothing.

And yet, everything.

Two hands grasped her body and carried her off. To where she didn't know. All she could recall was that she felt safe.

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Her eyes opened, and immediately, all sound was drowned out by the seeding agony in her chest. A hand caught hers when she raised it to clutch anything to alleviate the bitter torture.

When her head stopped ringing, her eyes fumbled in all direction. Eventually, she was able to focus on Loki. He was busying himself by moving his hand over her abdomen, speaking a foreign language.

Tears released from her eyes. Her mouth formed his name, but her voice couldn't produce sound. She lifted her head as the pain seemed to move her body for her. In the process, her back arched.

And then, nothing.

Her body fell flat against the bed. Her lungs inhaled heavily while her body shook rapidly. His hands moved over her face and steadied her body. Despite the pressure against her body, she managed to slip out of his idle grasp. Her body shot up and her arms flew around the man. Her body smarted against the quick movement, responding with a few waves of shivers.

Her mouth was by his ear.

His arms steadied around her, too. Eventually, she realized his embrace wasn't tight. It felt forced and unnatural, but he still held her.

"I'm sorry. I know you like your space," she breathed, the sound almost inaudible.

In that moment, he held her for the first time.

Her eyes closed. Such relief. She never knew she needed to feel this safe, secure, and sound. For so long, she'd aimlessly searched for such a peace.

A deluge of emotion swept them away, but only for a moment.

Loki pulled away and moved off of the bed. He turned his back to her. "I was able to heal you. Most of it. You may feel more discomfort, but it shouldn't extend beyond that. The pain is gone, Jane."

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Bruce darted from the landing deck upon landing. He wore an airman's suit for the lack of clothes upon shifting back into his human form. Tears flew passed him in the air behind him as he chased fate all the way to the medical department. All the way to the back of the ship. The path before him had been the longest in his entire existence.

Clenching his jaw, he fought against his pain.

He needed to see her. Alive. "Natasha," he pleaded, a prayer and curse to whoever allowed this to happen.

He couldn't lose her. He'd lost his humanity. He'd lost his family. He'd lost his sanity. He couldn't lose his heart, too. He feared he wouldn't be able to control himself again.

Hope was his only company.

Invisible heartstrings guided him through the corridors to where she was. Everything was a blur.

Drying his eyes, he continued to run—all the way to her.

Rounding a corner, he arrived at the medical department. Shifting his body to avoid a stray hand to stop him, he rushed to her side. She laid on the table, lifeless. A machine was breathing for her.

"We need to do another transfusion. Else she will die in a matter of minutes even with the machines helping her," a doctor said, choosing to ignore Bruce for the moment. They'd worked together in his lab before.

Someone pushed against Bruce's form. He simply stood there, observing the sight before his eyes. He had had her in his grasp back in Norway, his large green, monstrous fingertips caressing her face.

He'd lost control. Instantly. He hadn't realized how real his feelings were until the news of her at death's door. Coiling a fist, he swallowed and tuned the world out. He gathered that a nearby nurse was guiding him away from the room during the procedure. He heard no words. He had only sight.

And the world he now knew terrified him to his very core. "She can't die," he chanted over and over until his lungs exhausted. He saw the door close on him. There was a small round window into the room. From where he stood, he saw her features: peaceful. What had she been thinking of? Who had she been thinking of?

He had no right to be jealous, but he was. He absolutely knew she'd remembered Clint Barton. Why was this world disgustingly cruel to him? Did he not deserve to be happy? Was he not allowed the illusion of happiness?

As the new blood entered her system, he heard faintly the fatal, drawn beep. She was dead! Anger raged within. He felt the Hulk beckoning. How free he would be from within the Hulk! He craved it.

Until he heard another pulse followed by another. Fresh tears stung his eyes, a small, desperate smile attached itself to his lips.

"As long as she lives, she doesn't ever have to care for me. Unless she openly pursues me, I won't pursue her. Only if she survives, whoever can hear me. Save her, please," he whispered in agony again..

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Loki left her alone for a few hours. He said he needed to take care of unfinished business. He told her he had to transform into Bruce Banner. He said it had been the only way to get him away from her.

Despite everything, he wasn't here with her.

He wasn't here when she wanted him to be.

She cradled her chest and leaned against the headboard. Her eyes were puffy from crying. Sadly, there were no more tears for her to shed.

Jane sighed heavily and immediately regretted doing so. A sharp discomfort wedged between her left lung and her healed ribs. In an effort to stifle it, she threw her head against the headboard and clenched her eyes shut. She inhaled through her teeth, creating a loud hissing noise.

There was a footstep at the foot of the bed.

"Can you heal Agent Romanoff?"

"I can certainly try."

"Thanks," she choked.

— — — — — — — — — — — —

The dark horizon gave Loki comfort. Through the moderate size of the window, he gazed up at the constellations and eventually moved his light hues down to see the smoking city.

His chest constricted.

They were stationed safely in the air above a place they called Norway. The landscape was passable enough to move his thoughts away from Jane Foster a while.

The mortal was summoned by the man called Fury just after he got back to her room.

Loki certainly didn't enjoy the news upon her return.

According to her, Director Fury told Jane that she would be joining the Avengers. There was no other choice.

She'd been the one to first open a wormhole. And she would be needed in the field to safely close it.

Loki was worried. Incredibly so; however, his features were as distant as usual. There wasn't any worry that she could sense the depth of this profoundly disturbing emotion.

They would train her to use a gun.

Jane had told them that she did not wish to handle one.

They'd replied that she had no option to refuse.

Now, she slept. It was well into the early hours of the morning, so it was only expected.

Her absence allowed him to reflect privately. This was an ill-afforded luxury.

Her memories had caught him completely unaware. She'd been quite the recluse in her youth. Jane hadn't made consistent contacts...friends...aside from her wayward father and Erik. She ultimately raised herself.

And Loki admired her composure.

She had every reason to give into the emotions that still chewed at her heels; yet, she had never truly let go of herself.

He'd heard thoughts in every memory. She was more mentally capable than any mortal should be. But he was not surprised that she surprised him. It was a reoccurring scenario.

He sighed.

If Jane was sent off to fight with the fallen Avengers, he would join her.

His only place was by her side. If he needed to reveal himself to everyone, he would.

Loki would not, however, go back to Asgard until he secured her safety.

Jane was an odd woman.

She insisted that she didn't need to be the damsel, but she did not possess any abilities aside from her intellect and resourcefulness. She did need protection, but at the same time, he could not deny her admirable mental capacities.

She would neither run into battle, nor run from it.

If the battle ran into her, she would fight back until she could no longer bear it.

She was fragile. Thor had fractured three bones in her chest. He recalled the state of madness that slipped into his mind when Jane began to struggle.

He hated Thor. Finally, he could protect something that was exclusively his against the golden prince.

Loki shuddered.

To refer Jane as his was not agreeable, but it was inevitably habitual now. No matter what they did, he often thought about her. Not as though he was love stricken or such.

He recalled many conversations he had heard in their time together. The word anomaly came to mind. And she certainly was the best sort of anomaly in his opinion.

He still could not stifle the trembles from hearing that Jane would be a part of this mess.

She was not agile like that Romanoff woman. She could not depend on heightened senses, such as strength, aim, or accuracy, like Thor or Clint Barton. He certainly hoped she would never shift into that green beast.

Jane was a rather ordinary mortal quipped with an extraordinary mind and wit.

He would be her shield, though. She continued to protect him. Continued to he would give his life to her if such an occasion call for such a solution.

He had no time to worry or fear, though. Where she went, he would follow. In life and in death, he would love her. Loyalty wasn't as vibrant of a binding that he'd felt with anyone else. He presumed that was due to their strange connection.

A part of his old self whispered ideas into his corrupted, black heart. Words as care, adoration, love.

Swallowing, he relaxed against the wall to his left, still by the glass.

There it was: love.

The term was such an oddity to him. Even though his mother still claimed to love him, Loki had resented the term, eventually to the point where he craved nothing more than to destroy everything capable of loving.

When he'd arrived to Thanos, the monster had beaten him until he only felt hatred, pain, and anger.

He'd fallen into Jane. And now he wondered what it meant to love someone wholly, unconditionally. She'd unconditionally accepted him and all of the many faults. She accepted that he had slain other mortals. Or so she seemed.

She didn't like it, but Jane was able to see something in him no one had ever witnessed-including himself.

His body was still, quiet. His features were frozen.

Suddenly, he remembered something Thor had said to her. Something about her being as cold as Jotunheim.

This unsettled him. What was she enduring? Why was this happening?

Their connection was strong. They'd been able to see each others memories, hear the others thoughts within those pieces of time, and feel feelings belonging to the other.

He'd hated it at first, but now, he basked in discovering her further.

When had their connection begun?

How had it been possible?

Why had it happened?

What if their connection allowed Thanos to track her?

This connection was evolving his mind into more like her own...so many blasted questions.

He could not entertain such ideas now.

He had to focus on the present.

He could not become distracted by anything. Y

et, concurrently, he needed to devise a plan for every scenario. He never progressed through life without planning every detail of his endeavors. He needed to be alert and on guard not only for his own life now, but hers, too.

He didn't know what it meant to be responsible for another person's life.

Lifting an arm, he supported his body on his elbow on the wall. His eyes never left the view beyond the window.

He swallowed once more. He and Jane had agreed that they needed to wait for the middle of the night in order to get to Agent Romanoff undetected. They briefly discussed him shifting into her, but didn't know how well that would bode should he get caught.

His speech was far more different than hers.

That, and if Thor tried to approach him as she and attempted to stick his tongue down his throat or embrace him, he would instantly use his would throw his cover and their plans. He cringed, disgusted at such a thought.

He hadn't even been the one to bring such a revolting ordeal up. No, that pleasure belonged to Jane entirely.

No, she would go to the injured Avenger, and he would follow while "invisible." His strength had long since recovered. His powers were scarcely ever limited, so he should not have any problems healing the girl.

Reflecting honestly inward, he did not want to heal the woman. His darker self desired to let the woman die. One Avenger down.

Loki had silenced that inner voice because of Jane, though. He was far from changed, but she gave him the strength to rest his pained soul down and actually live: simply experience life as it came...an odd sentiment.

He would do it because maybe if she recovered swiftly, Jane wouldn't have to fight for the fallen Agent. The bright-haired woman was another wall in the chain of Jane's protection.

His fists coiled.

He was enormously fearful of who he would become without her by his side.

With her, he had reason to be happy, to behave approvingly.

Without her, he dared not think on what he would become.

Probably something far worse than what he was with Thanos and The Other.

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Jane observed his form by the window.

He stayed like a statue in time: frozen, numb, indescribably...mesmerizing to her, especially in the dim light of the moon.

He appeared deep in thought.

Inwardly, she wished she could have the chance to hear his thoughts. They'd briefly discussed their plans, though neither were comfortable with the lack of planning they had been able to pursue.

Jane felt compelled to draw him out of his thoughts. She was apprehensive about what they may have guided him toward.

Jane turned her head the opposite direction so he wouldn't think her a creepy stalker.

"What'll we do if they discover you're here?" Jane directed as she absentmindedly rested on the bed. A finger was twirling a strand of her long brown hair absently.

Movement indicated that Loki was shifting toward the bed from the window. He gracefully placed himself next to her on the bed. Turning, he folded his left leg over the bed.

Quietly, he watched her restlessly move.

"Do you always move thus?" he quietly inquired, his voice luxurious and curious.

This caused her to stop playing with her hair, shifting herself onto her back and turning her head toward him.

"I've always moved. My mother was overridden with anxiety, and I suppose always saw her doing these things. When I was little—around two—my father told me that I wanted to be exactly like her, so I would mimic her movements. When they divorced, he explained that continuing these pointless movements, nervous ticks, whichever you call them, would make me feel like she was there."

"You were lonely," he added, clarifying.

"Who isn't? Especially as an only child with only an absent father for company," she joked, her tone waning.

Jane sat up and gently eased his head into her lap, her legs crossing. Observing him from above, Jane gathered her features to fit uneasiness.

Catching this, Loki sat up and caught her cheek to turn her attention back to him, "What is troubling you?"

"Why is my body changing? My body temperature is falling, but I still remain unaffected. I should be ill...severely ill," she fumbled, nervous.

"Our connection is stronger than I initially realized. The natural temperature that my body sustains is lower than usual because I was born not as an Asgardian, but a Jotun, a Frost Giant," he informed her, eyes never leaving hers. There it was. Her most coveted confession from him.

Had he really just told her?

"Am I becoming a Frost Giant, too? Otherwise, what else will happen to me? I can't explain to others why I feel abnormal, Loki. We can't go on without understanding it," she reasoned, her voice frantic and somewhat helpless.

Smiling, he shook his head, "You are of mortal birth. I have never heard of anyone becoming a Frost Giant. One must be born. And Jane, our connection is much greater than either of us. That transformation is doubtful. I am acutely lacking in belief that you will be changing much else in your life due to this strange bond."

"You don't understand! I need to understand it! I can't ignore something like this," she countered, her hands fidgeting in unison at her lap.

"Jane, you have my word that this will not hurt you. If our connection was grave, you would have already died," he told her, disregarding his unease. He recognized the necessity to calm her nerves. Neither could afford to be greatly distracted.

Her eyes were urgent, demanding. Pleading, she whined. Yes, whined. She was frustrated. "I wish I could be so sure."

"You will have to exercise trust in me, Jane," Loki mentioned, his eyes stilled and reassuring.

"That's not fair, Loki. Of all the people in this world, I want to trust you more than anyone...but...I can't yet," she replied quietly.

Lowering his forehead to rest against hers, he lightly pecked her cheek, "Then trust my words...if you find that you can."

Her knuckles rose against his cheek, moving down to his chin. Faintly, she grinned, "Okay." Though she still felt unsure.

He stared at her for a moment before saying, "We are needed elsewhere, Jane."

"I know. It's well past time for the doctors to go to bed for the night. Fury told me they'd finally stabilized her," she agreed. She closed her eyes and exhaled, calm.

"Let us move quickly, then."

\---------------------------

To be continued...

A/N: Chapter 10 will be released before Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2015. Thanks for taking the time to read and review! :D


	10. When We Want

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Dark Paradise by Lana Del Rey

And there's no remedy for memory, your face is like a melody,  
It won't leave my head; your soul is haunting me  
And telling me that everything is fine; but I wish I was dead—dead like you.

Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise  
No one compares to you. I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side.

There's no relief; I see you in my sleep.   
And everybody's rushing me, but I can feel you touching me  
There's no release; I feel you in my dreams telling me I'm fine.

Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise  
No one compares to you. I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 

Chapter 10

Eighteen hours. Nothing. No voice, breath, movement. Nothing to indicate she would be okay again. Every minute that passed was another moment he wished for death.

He couldn't have imagined that he'd felt so deeply for someone he'd only recently noticed.

Bruce was on the edge: caught in the crossfires of reason and insanity.

He should have been there with her.

The Avengers should not have split up.

Together they were invincible.

Apart, they were breakable.

He should never have agreed to the plans in the first place. Dr. Banner didn't understand why he had, either.

Sighing, he continued to stare at the door. He hadn't moved in fifteen hours. He arrived three hours after she had to the base. With every breath, he felt his chest weigh down his lungs, his heart.

Including her, he hadn't a single loved one.

He'd spent years beating any trace of emotion lingering in his human bones. All for nothing.

He didn't want this.

He needed her alive.

He needed her.

Bending his knees to rest his elbows upon them, he pressed his hands together. Slowly, his hands moved so that his index fingers touched his mouth and nose.

"Please," he hoarsely pleaded. The lack of hydration caused his voice to scratch at his throat.

"Bruce?" he heard from his left. He didn't look at anything besides the iron door. "You have to get some rest," the voice reasoned.

The figure bent down and joined him on the floor, a hand sitting over his shoulder. Bruce didn't have the energy required to shove the body away. Reflecting, Bruce recalled the voice belonging to Steve.

"I will not leave her," Bruce warned, his voice cracking.

"She's stable," Steve said amiably, hopeful.

"She's barely alive. She only exists," Bruce amended.

Steve lightly shook his hand over the other Avenger's shoulder. "When she gets better, she'd prefer you to be well rested. You know she doesn't like to be indebted to anyone."

This caught the man's attention. Snapping his head toward Captain America, he shifted away from his grasp, "Don't talk about her as if I don't know anything about her. Don't speak for her, either."

"I'm sorry, Dr. Banner. I'm trying to mediate through the obvious rational that will make you go to bed and get some rest. Don't you want to be here for when she wakes up?"

"That's why I'm right here," Bruce fought, desperate for any kind of clarity he could claim.

"She needs you to be well, Bruce. I'll stay here until you get some rest. If anything happens, I will immediately come get you. You'll be the first she sees," Steve assured, promising. His expression was sincere, yet authoritative. There had always been some unspoken understanding that this man led the bunch of misfits. He was their mediator between everyone's vibrant personalities and abilities.

Leadership suited Steve well. Or so Bruce believed.

So, Bruce nodded. "Fine," he tiredly responded. When he did not move, Steve sighed. "Give me a moment, will you?" Bruce retorted.

"That door won't change shape, nor the contents inside," Steve humbly replied.

Bruce's eyes shifted toward Steve with traces of malice, slowly dimming with unguarded trepidation. "What if something happened to her? What would I do?"

Steve turned a bit toward his comrade, "I will help you through whatever outcome, Bruce." Steve placed his hand back on Bruce's shoulder. "Now, go to bed."

Reluctantly, Bruce stood up. Turning, he waved an idle hand above his head, whispering, "All right."

Steve Rogers observed him walking down the hall in the direction of his room.

The man was so open in his emotions, lately.

Steve hadn't though his attention toward Natasha was particularly appropriate or justified. Fury had even just instructed him to get Bruce to back off.

Clint Barton was obviously affected by their interactions, though he made no complaints about why. He had to care for Agent Romanoff. No one really understood Barton's distance from her. He never talked to them about his personal life.

Witnessing Bruce in this state, Steve was entirely positive his fascination for Natasha was valid. He would support his friend, his brother. No matter what rules it went against, he would not break them apart.

He could see the way Natasha worried over Bruce, too. During the helicopter ride to Norway, She'd said something…odd.

"Do you think Bruce will hurt anyone?" the agent quietly spoke against the harsh wind rocking the aircraft.

She'd not said the Hulk. Natasha had said Bruce. He'd found that odd at the time, but reflecting on the instance now, Steve was highly aware that she may not see two beings in one body: only one. If that were true, then she must have accepted the Hulk as a part of who Bruce is.

Had she fallen for the monster, too?

The Hulk was not a monster, though. Everyone else made him to be one, though. If the facts were manufactured by popular opinion...Monster. The word struck an uncomfortable chord in his heart.

Bucky. He was not saved. No matter how many lives the Captain saved, he wouldn't be a true hero.

He shook his head and thought about Bruce again.

He understood why Bruce cared so deeply. The man never talked about his personal life, either, but everyone knew that only sadness littered Banner's past. Steve hoped he found someone who accepted every fragment of every flaw and strengths...even when Bruce himself could not.

Footsteps threw his train of thought to hell.

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Jane followed the halls to the medical wing. She prayed to every deity that she wouldn't bump into anyone.

Loki was somewhere close to her.

He was silent; she couldn't hear his footsteps, nor detect his presence.

Her hand shook as she walked. Rounding a corner, she heard two voices. As she listened, she quickly recognized them to belong to Steve Rogers and Dr. Banner.

Their words were unrecognizable, but she was sure it was the two Avengers around the corner.

Panic set in her belly.

What if they failed?

Her heart began to race and her body lightly perspired.

Her breathing became heavy and loud.

Something touched her hand, grabbing it and collecting it in its grasp. Turning her head, she saw no one.

Loki.

Her eyes moved up to about the height he stood, and her expression was fleetingly aware of the consequences of this operation.

All fear, panic, and anxiety left in an instant. Like magic.

Then, she turned around to be covert again...lest someone think her crazy for staring off into space.

She softly smiled, her eyes closing.

She recollected herself.

Loki left her. The air changed without him near her, though she thought it best to forget about that for now.

After a moment, she took a low, deep breath and rounded the corner, her hands in front of her as she stepped closer to the operating room's door.

"Jane," she heard Steve call down the hall. In the failing light of the hall, she could see his form standing, walking closer to her. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here to see her earlier, but Thor and I...fought, so I left rather quickly. I was hoping to wait late enough so that he would be sleeping," Jane reasoned.

He didn't seem to find any flaw in her statement, but he still blocked her way into the door. "I don't think it's wise to go in there. Bruce is very protective of her right now and should anything happen, so I hate to think about what would happen should anything indeed occur."

"I understand, I'll just wait out here, then. Is that okay?" she apprehensively asked, biting her lip.

Nodding, Steve Rogers joined her by the small opening in the iron door.

Natasha had been cleaned, and her wounds were closed. She still relied on the machines in order to breath.

She was unresponsive. Her heart rate was slow...showing Jane that should any machine be tampered with she would die.

"What happened?" Jane inquired softly.

"Thor didn't tell you?" Steve asked, truly baffled.

"He...uh...only tells me things that he feels are convenient for him. Otherwise, he doesn't tell me much," she explained. Traces of sadness lingered at the edge of her tongue. Thor would always be important to her, but her feelings for him had faded a while ago.

It was silly, really.

The feelings had been replaced with a minor indifference. Especially considering recent events...

"Well, Agent Romanoff and I were assigned to Norway. It should have been easy enough, but we soon discovered that something was off. For each Chitauri we killed, others were conceived out of thin air. We lacked manpower, so naturally we had to fall back. When I took a pretty bad hit, Natasha moved in front of me and took an attack that was would have killed me.

"She ran away so that the surrounding Chitauri would follow her. I couldn't just leave her alone, so I took one moment to recollect my strength, and I set out to find her. We could not separate, yet she did. Of course, I couldn't find her...and then I heard her speak for what should have been the very last time. I rummaged through the streets and still could not find her. I avoided what Chitauri I could and killed those I could not.

"So many people died there. Their cries for help would crescendo loudly and fade into nothingness. I won't ever forget that silence," he paused, sadly reflecting on the incident. Shaking his head, he continued, "I eventually heard a rather familiar roar. The Hulk was there, and he had likely found her dying. I followed the sound and was ushered by the sight of her in his hand, lifeless."

Jane looked confused, "How did Banner get there as quickly as he did?"

Steve chuckled softly, "I forget that you're not with SHIELD. Well, your lead was dead, so he immediately rushed back to Norway...to be with her, I suppose.

"I'm sorry I caused all of this," Jane sadly told him.

A quick flash of darkness swept over her eyes. In that moment, she saw the masked person rushing past her crippled form on the stairs. Jane adjusted. In the height of being on board tho helicarrier, she'd forgotten about that detail.

Loki bombarded her life, nearly erasing everything else out with their unexplained connection.

Steve shook his head and collected the most appropriate words. Eventually, he replied, "I cannot blame you. You didn't intend for any of this to happen."

"Who's to blame, then?" Jane absently added.

"Loki," he maliciously stated, his hands coiling.

He heard her sigh, "I wonder if he's truly as bad as everyone makes him to be. What if he was simply influenced by someone who took away all that was good in him in the first place?"

"You're defending someone who tried to kill not only his own kind, but the human race, too," Steve argued, disbelieving.

Jane shrugged casually, carefully, "I don't feel I am. What if he wasn't that type of person to begin with?" Jane caught his disbelieving glare and shifted on her toes, amending, "I'm just curious of this guy, you know? I've never met him. In my experience, what's on the surface never is the whole story."

"If I thought him capable of goodness, I would not be so avidly disgusted by the idea," Steve retaliated. How could she say anything good about Loki?

"I guess I don't judge anything until I've seen it for myself," she sighed.

"I know you know something, Jane. The question is: what?" Rogers quietly told her.

Jane stood her ground, composed, "Beats the shit out of me."

"I-" he started, caught off guard by Jane turning toward the glass, instead of matching his heated gaze.

"She's awake! Quick, you must go get a doctor!" Jane declared, her eyes lush with relief.

Steve gaped into the hole and saw that she was indeed awake. "Impossible," he said, quickly moving Jane out of the way so he could open the door and press the emergency button within.

Suddenly, the corridors erupted with the sirens and he almost needed to cover his ears from the intensity of the sounds. Doctors rushed in nearly immediately, and he ran out of the room expecting to find Jane...but she was gone.

He assumed she was going to collect Fury or anyone that would care about Natasha's recovery.

He ran to collect Bruce, telling the doctors not to let any of the Avengers or staff in the room until Dr. Banner had seen her.

As he ran, he saw Bruce racing toward him.

"She's awake, Bruce!" he reassured, seeing the terrifying expression embedded within Dr. Banner's features thaw. He noticed at least a thousand emotions fight for dominance over his expression.

As Bruce ran passed him, Steve halted and looked back at Banner's moving form.

Something was off as far as Jane was concerned.

He felt it; he knew it.

And he would get to the bottom of it.

Personally.

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Bright lights stung Natasha's eyes.

At first, a familiar taste of green feasted over her hues.

The pain was gone.

She heard his voice whispering something in a different language she did not recognize.

Her soul seemed to mend with the skin upon her body.

The bright light concealed a dark figure over at her right.

As quickly as the figure had been coherently present, the tall skinny stature was gone; however, her ears began to ring.

Time halted.

The bright light of the operation room faded and suddenly she was brought back to Stark Tower just before Loki had been injured by Bruce.

Yet there was no sound, wind, or living beings.

Anywhere.

Natasha was standing.

"What?" she uttered, perplexed.

She lifted her chin to view the sky and the surroundings. Her body tuned, catching Loki standing before her.

Immediately, she ran toward him and shoved her fist at his face, but the image of him simply swerved like a hologram.

A wily grin broke his features. "Is that the best you are capable of?"

Her fist attempted to meet with his face once more, but again failed, her whole body seeming to move through Loki's projection as he walked forward.

"What do you want?" she shouted, stepping backward to relieve space between them.

He sniggered, smiling vulnerably. There were traces of honesty, openness, and repentance in his still arrogant hues. He stepped forth and halted a foot before her, lowering to speak into her ear, "For what or whom I yearn does not concern you."

Natasha's features constricted to the center of her face. "Stop playing around and tell me what's going on!" she ordered.

Loki's eyes darkened. "To what degree do you believe me to be 'playing around'? I am no boy." He chuckled. "Especially I am no child."

"I could argue that you were," she replied.

Loki sighed and gathered her attention. "Such an impasse we are met with," he mentioned, bored.

"I'll give you one last chance to tell me what this is, Loki."

Lifting his brow with devastating interest, Loki lowered his head and smiled. "This space is my own private piece of the nine realms. You cannot harm me here."

Natasha backed away from him, uncomfortable. "What's going on? Am I dead?"

"In terms your kind would surely understand, this is all an image of your own making. My powers still connect me to you. I have healed you," he explained, his voice fluid and slow. He sickeningly grinned, "So, no. You are very much alive."

Exhaling, Natasha raised her brow, "Why?"

Loki shifted his head downward, off to the side. Sighing briefly, he moved his legs apart, bringing his arms behind his back. His jaw tightened. He appeared as if he did not wish to reveal crucial information about himself. "The task was asked of me by someone whom I regard...well, regard."

"The only person you'd ever regard highly is yourself and your sick, damned agenda, Loki. Spare me a speech of a newly acquired sense of humility," she casually retorted. Her tone was mocking, cold, and unbreakably stern.

Loki saw red. He seemed to fly toward her, although he simply strode toward her so quickly. He towered over her, eyes wet and wide. He fixed his jaw and never left her gaze, "Humility is not an ideal I know of well, but I am beginning to let her show me a way to a new life."

Natasha remained silent, unused to such a show of emotion from the man she despised. He sniggered, eyes drying. "You and your Avengers are only capable of beholding the same illusion I let destroy me." He smiled somewhat, "I have been given a small amount clarity."

"Where are you?" she finally spoke, unbelieving him capable of sincerely caring about someone else. "I mean in the regular world?"

He smirked, "Close, yet far enough to hide...for now."

"What are you after, if not to destroy earth?" Natasha questioned, fully dissatisfied with his open-ended answer.

His brows lifted. "Inquisitive, are we? What makes you fathom I would inform you of my motifs?"

"You're implying change despite the lack of confirming it verbally. Without proof, I won't have reason to even listen to whatever it is you are trying to tell me," she lamely said.

He closed his eyes as his smirk fell. Taking a breath, he opened his lids and began to circle her slowly, his steps calculated in their distance. "My indiscretions here—in New York—fail to encumber nearly as severely as to whom is now wanting me dead. Thanos is its name. And then there is The Other. They gave me an army in exchange for the Tesseract."

"Why haven't we found any evidence of that?"

He stifled the urge to roll his light, frost-like eyes, "Evidence does not define proof or reality." Pausing, he swallowed. "They are here—no longer after only me. They sense her growing importance to me."

She saw the god of mischief still, clearly making out the fear trembling beneath his bones.

"Her? Who are you protecting?" Natasha asked, no longer Avenger's tone slackened, eager to discover unknown information of her enemy.

Loki stopped his idle circling about the lady Avenger, quickly facing her in a militant manner. "No. No matter what we would prefer, we must work together. She cannot be harmed." He was speaking rhetorically, she gathered.

She lifted her right brow, "What makes you think we will consent to work with you, Loki?"

He moved his head toward her, but his gaze was still looking at the ground. "She is someone that cannot run from my mistakes." His eyes met hers boldly, "You understand what it means to clear out the red in your ledger. That is what I must do now."

Stomping her heel, she regained his full attention. "Who is she?"

Swallowing, his eyes saddened. "Jane. Jane Foster."

She lost her breath. "What?"

"You heard me," he retorted.

"She's known of your whereabouts this whole time and hasn't told any of us?" Natasha reverberated. When he only nodded in reply, she shouted in anger. "You're a parasite, Loki. Thor loves her!"

His features darkened, he held out his hand and thrust her gently against a wall, slowly walking to her. His hand remained raised. "He cannot see what lies before him. He does not appreciate anything given to him freely. His affections may have been reciprocated by her, but you cannot honestly believe what you say."

"Thor is an ally of mine. You are my enemy. If Thor's catches this, who knows how he would handle it," Natasha reasoned. "He's valuable to the Avengers as she is to him."

"He will fare well, mortal. I hear a mutual companion is about to distract him and keep him in the mouth of battle," he responded, his mind lethally aware of what Thor would potentially do. "I spared your life, and in return, I require your silence and protection for her sake."

"If you're asking for silence, why bother telling me this in the first place?"

Loki sadly paused, his mouth lamely loosening. "One day very soon I will no longer be enough to protect her from both of our mistakes. Thanos knows of my connection to her and will likely strike at her to retaliate against my failure with the Tesseract. He would kill her before I could even scratch him. I need allies."

"This doesn't make us allies, but I will help you protect her, if only for Thor's sake. "

"You will know when to lead the Avengers against the threat," he murmured as the bright light overhead once more appeared, dissolving Loki's phantom.

Her eyes adjusted to the heaven-like light.

Eventually, a shadow loomed over her.

A head, she made out.

Blocking the light from her weakened eyes, she saw Bruce mouthing her name.

Had she lost her hearing?

No, she realized.

Sounds seeped through her ears slowly.

"Natasha!" she heard him say, finally.

Blinking repeatedly, she brought her hand to her face to find her skin was smooth. Her other hand instantly cupped the wound from the glass, only there were no longer any traces of it. "Impossible," she uttered.

Bruce set his hand over hers and caught her attention. "You've come back to me."

Wincing, she sluggishly sat up, her other hand moving atop his and clutching it tightly. "Always," she barely whispered, smiling like an idiot.

A few doctors asked her to lie back down, but she simply shook off their hands over her weakened body.

Her eyes shifted back toward Bruce. He sent her an unsteady smile. His eyes saddened as he drew a deep breath. Finally, his lips sealed, forming a straight, flat line: not a smile, not a frown. Neutral. Distant. Cold.

Her lungs wavered as she also inhaled. Simultaneously, they exhaled. Her eyes adjusted to the confusion she felt, widening.

"Bruce, what's wrong?" she hesitantly spoke.

His jaw tightened as his eyes moved away from her. Easing his hands away from hers gently, Dr. Banner edged away from where she sat. "Nothing's wrong, Agent Romanov."

Suddenly, he was walking away from her. And her legs unconsciously moved to stand, but her feet were shaking as if they were unused to the weight they carried. Grunting, she pulled herself up from the movement of falling toward the ground. Her arm supported her feeble body—barely—on a nearby chair. "Ow," she winced, her side still sore.

Bruce headed toward the left from the medical room, heading toward the outside deck from what it looked like.

Limping, Natasha struggled on behind him, eventually losing sight of him completely.

Somehow she knew he would be there. He had to be. It was the only place that he could change into the Hulk without threat of hurting anyone until she could get there.

Natasha grunted with each and every step, but pressed forward with as much urgency as a calm morning breeze in summer.

Life was finally becoming interesting again.

And she bit back an entertained smile as she realized that once again, the excitement had been linked to Loki once more—only this time round, they weren't complete enemies.

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Jane was out of breath. After realizing that Loki had done something to heal Natasha, she had instantly darted off to collect whomever she ran into first.

Now, no one could say she suspiciously disappeared. At least not completely.

She didn't know where Loki was, but she felt it was best to retire to her room. Upon arriving, she loudly shut the door and locked it behind her. Heaving, she exhaled and leaned against the door for support.

"I really need to get into shape," she commented as she felt absolutely beat.

"I would agree with that...if it means training your body and mind to handle more physically straining activities," a voice responded from the shadows of her dark room.

She left the wanting support of her door and walked further into the room, seeing Loki standing at the foot of the bed. "You did it! How?"

"You took too long with the conversation between you and that so-called captain, so I took it upon myself to improvise," he replied sweetly, his voice relaxing as she came into view.

"Who's to say I wasn't distracting him for you?" she countered.

"Were you?" he politely asked, his features amused.

"No, but maybe my instincts were," she admitted, smiling playfully.

He returned her smile and stepped once toward her. "Quick-witted, mortal."

Had he always been so open with her? She couldn't recall entirely.

"I will interpret that into a compliment," Jane quietly said, her voice fluid against the background noises of the frenzied base. Even from her room she could hear the faints stirring of the mess of people scurrying about the halls.

Abruptly, her features tightened.

"What's troubling you, Foster?" he asked, worried.

She closed the distance. She wanted so much to reach out for his hand, but she sat down, instead. He mimicked her action and gave her his full attention. "I want to know what happened in New York from your prospective," Jane hesitantly told him, swallowing nervously.

His features darkened, "Do I scare you, Jane?"

She remained irritatingly frozen in place, "Everyone says all of these horrible, justifiably so, things about who you were. I defend the character you have now, but I won't defend the actions you've done—at least not until I know about them from your own experience."

His hand cupped her cheek, and he sighed, "I don't think you'll enjoy what I will say."

She shrugged, "I know that I see your memories, but they're just pieces caught in a timeline that doesn't make any sense in my head. "

Nodding in response, Loki brought her fingertips to his lips and forlornly frowned. The action forced her breath to catch softly. Her irises danced with curiosity. He must have caught it, too; however, he released her from his cool grasp.

"Disguise and hiding has been a part of my persona. I admit I don't care to extend you those qualities, though," he started.

"But?"

He stood away from her and separated them with at least five feet, "I need some time to collect what I shall say to you."

"All right, Loki." Her voice trembled. Now that she was aware that she couldn't pretend he wasn't the villain of the New York attack, she feared what he might say when the time came for her to hear his story.

And that's when she realized the tug at her closely-guarded heartstrings.

After all, how could match between a curious mortal and a man of mischief and mayhem ever be a good combination.

Jane Foster and Loki could never be anything.

Ever.

And even after knowing this fact, Jane wanted to know what "more" she could find in him.

Until she saw that all he would ever be to her was more.

\-------------------------

To be continued...

Chapter 11 will be released soon. Hopefully by the middle of this coming week!


	11. Chapter 11

**This chapter contains a scene that includes minor mature images. Nothing overly horrific, but I thought I should warn you.**

**Thank you.**

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Dark Paradise by Lana Del Rey

And there's no remedy for memory, your face is like a melody,  
It won't leave my head; your soul is haunting me  
And telling me that everything is fine; but I wish I was dead—dead like you.

Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise  
No one compares to you. I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side.

There's no relief; I see you in my sleep.  
And everybody's rushing me, but I can feel you touching me  
There's no release; I feel you in my dreams telling me I'm fine.

Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise  
No one compares to you. I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

**Chapter 11**

In the strange, still silence of slumber, Jane heard a voice call out toward her from an unknown space within her mind. A bright, golden beam of light stifled the prior darkness.

Jane instantly looked to her left and then to her right and back again, searching for anything familiar to her. No such thing was found. "Hello?" she called out, her voice echoing more than ten times, the sound drowning out the idea of any sort of confinement.

No, the space was wide, vacant, and lonesome. The heat seeping through the air gave her chills. The soft, fluttering voice moaned an incoherent string of syllables she gathered were in a different dialect.

And when she turned her head, she saw herself floating a short distance away from her.

Bones protruded out of her skin. Blood floated around the body almost acting like a shield. The red substance covered her, covering the color of her brown hair in a crimson bath.

This Jane wore no clothes.

She looked like a rag doll or a puppet without strings.

She was naked and every part of her mutilated body floated in different direction as if her bones were no longer the structure keeping her body aligned.

A part of her leg was cut, torn. Muscles splayed where skin should be.

And in an instant, this battered Jane moved her head upright, despite her spine peeking out of the side of her neck. "You will be me."

Darkness once more enshrouded around her.

Her breathing was labored, heavy, and entirely lead-like.

She felt a ball of liquid fall from her eyes to her hand, sliding down her skin unto someone's neck.

But the space between her cupped hands was empty.

Her torso shot up, nearly cracking her spine in the process.

Jane was sweating. Profusely.

A sharp gasp broke between her lips. Her arms shot up so she could cradle her chest when she began to weep uncontrollably. Her body convulsed rapidly until she was shivering.

A dip on the foot of the bed caused her to jump back until her back hit the headboard of the bed.

When two arms reached out for her, she screamed.

Someone caught her wrists and pulled her chin up so that she could see whoever was there.

"Loki?" she called amidst the panic. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she was able to fully see him, though he wasn't as visible as usual. Normally, his pale skin gave him away.

"Jane, shh," he soothed. Despite the effort of comfort, he didn't bring her close to him.

The tight grasp turned into a gentle hold over her wrists, and Jane immediately clung to him. Her arms reached around him in an awkward, vulnerable way. Her legs bent at the knees and lazily lounged on the bed while she continued to seek refuge in her embrace.

She focused on his breathing: it's rhythm, it's intensity, it's unpredictability. She realized he could be nervous, but it was only speculation.

Finally, she felt his arms idly wrap around her body.

Her eyes closed. Peace.

That was what this was...what she felt.

And it was glorious.

Armored with a timid, slouched posture, Jane pulled away from him. Her eyes were uneasy as they met his guarded gaze. "I don't want to be here," she told him.

"Where do you wish to be?" he crooned lowly. Almost a whisper.

The edge of her mouth tugged downward, quickly retracting back to its natural position, "There's nowhere we can go without being too careful. I'm tired of hiding away in her all the time."

He stood up. For a moment, he glanced down at her stiffly. His brows knit close together while he continued to observe her. When she made no moves to stand, he reached for her wrists and gently guided her up next to him. He backed away from her when he was aware of their proximity, but his hands did not let her go.

Instead, his fingers coiled around her tighter.

"Might I take you somewhere? Anywhere. Just name the space, and I shall oblige," he offered apprehensively.

"I don't understand-"

"Jane."

The force behind his tone caused her to swallow. "My lab. My laboratory that was destroyed in Puente Antiguo, New Mexico."

He let her go, but stepped in closer to her. Her head barely reached his shoulder. In fact, she was sure her forehead matched the height of where his collar bones would be.

She felt his hands grab hers. His fingertips put a fraction of pressure on her hands when he moved them up her wrists, tracing them slowly over her exposed arms. She knew he would feel her goosebumps; although, if she were a lucky human being, he wouldn't know what they meant.

She heard her breath catch, and she winced inwardly.

When his touch traced to her elbows, he pulled her close to him and nearly fell into her. His face buried in the long layers of her unkept hair and the crook of her neck.

His chest expanded and contracted deeply, and his lips released the pent up pressure from his lungs onto her skin. Jane's eyes closed as her head moved back. His knees bent down dramatically to match her height.

Shaking, her arms enveloped his body, though it was unclear who the shaking body was.

"I want to trust you," she confessed quietly.

He exhaled and she swore she felt his lips close over her skin, lingering longer than what was appropriate. "Oh, Jane," he lamented, "of all that live, you can."

"Am I crazy if I do?"

"No, though I should warn you my own sanity may be questionable."

Jane chuckled. "Thanks for the heads up."

The next instant when her eyes opened, she saw the dark bedroom be replaced by the familiar confines of the lab she loved.

She was encased by the walls of the glass and found it hard not to smile.

He let her go and turned away from her. His absence made Jane look at him. According to her rough calculation, he had moved about ten feet away from her. Her dark eyes observed him.

He was shaking from what she could see. Unaware if he was sobbing, she did not hear anything from him. Her eyes lowered to see his hands coiled tightly in fists.

"Loki?" she choked. Her hand lifted in order to reach him in some way.

That's when he turned. His features were dark, but the words menacing and lethal were nowhere etched in his expression. He appeared lost, dazed, confused. He swallowed as his eyes closed. His posture changed, tightened. Even his chin rose. "Do not touch me, Jane Foster," he ordered tenderly.

"If I did," the astrophysicist gingerly spoke, "what would you do?"

"I woul-" he struggled. His eyes left hers and he pulled his arms behind him. His chest stuttered, shortening his breath. Loki attempted to exhale, but it came out in short, pained unrelenting layers. His mouth opened, forming words, but did not release sound. When his eyes closed, his jaw shook, "I would..."

"I won't touch you," Jane brokenly said. As she exhaled, she whispered, "I promise."

His eyes suggested loss, as if he wanted nothing more than for her to reach out for him, when he returned his gaze over hers.

Jane put one foot in front of the other all the way to one of the windows. "Where are we? It feels different. Everything would normally be destroyed."

That was when he moved behind her, his hands using the glass as leverage on either side of her shoulders. Her back touched his armor. His hair tickled her cheek when he leaned forward behind her.

Every fiber of control in her brain worked while she itched to put her hands over his. But she didn't. Success!

"We are precisely where you asked. However, if I were to retract my magic, you'd find that we'd be in my private space in the universe," he replied evenly. "I've used this place for my benefit since I was a boy."

Jane's eyes glanced up at the false night sky, the sky's landscape shined more brightly than what was real. The stars glistened with a fervor unnatural to this deserted place back in the real world. "Tell me something about when you were a child."

She felt the vibrancy of his playful smile. "I once tricked Fandral by shifting into a girl he lusted after. He never crossed me again...at least for a few centuries," the god of mischief rejoiced.

As he spoke the words, Jane saw a fragment of the memory in his head. Her belly filled with warm satisfaction. The warmth caused her to laugh loudly. "You were a precocious one, weren't you?"

"My mother had her hands full."

Jane noticed the lack of mentioning of Thor. On both parties. Lately, neither of them thought it wise to speak of him in the other's company. Still, her heart tensed a bit. "Loki, I want to say something about Thor."

Ever so slightly, she felt him withdraw from her. They no longer touched at all. "What would make you think of him in this moment?" he seethed.

Jane turned her head without moving her body so she could glare at him. "You mean in your arms?"

The observation caused him to shake his head, "You must think yourself so clever."

"Even you seem to think so as recorded in many of our conversations, Loki," she warned.

He sighed, "What would you like to discuss."

"Not discuss," she clarified, "I want to tell you something that will probably be a bit stupid."

"Such as?"

"I'm not in love with him anymore. Perhaps I never was."

He tensed up. Even his splayed hands balled up a bit. "Why would you think that stupid?"

Jane lowered her gaze to view his thin lips. Her breathing increased its rhythm. In an instant, her brown eyes moved back to his lustful eyes, "I know what sort of ideas you get when you hear it."

"I do not know to what ideas you refer."

Jane whined, "Loki."

"I will not have such a discussion about such a ridiculous-"

The small mortal reached her left arm up around his neck and lifted herself up while pulling him down to her. "Shut up," she commanded. Her eyes were half open when her lips chastely brushed his. Once she saw him close his eyes in a rush, her arm began to lower, but her eyes never left his.

They were sealed shut, as if the sensation of their joining burned in his core. Until they snapped open. It wasn't quite a glare. It wasn't quite a stare of wonder. It was somewhere in between, though. The trepidation she felt was forced down her throat as she swallowed. "Loki, if I truly mean nothing to you, then take that knife you always carry with you and kill me," she trembled.

His lips sealed into a thin, straight line. Finally, he spoke, "You cannot mean anything to me, Jane Foster."

"I don't want you to tell me how you feel about me. I don't know if you'll ever be ready to face it. My point is that we only have each other. You've come to mean a great deal to me...so much more than he ever could," she empathized. When she bit her lip, he pulled her closer to him. He rested his forehead against hers. "I don't know what will happen to me, but I care about this Loki. I l-like you like this. And I'm choosing to have faith that you can be good...for me."

He shook his head, "There is much that could get you killed."

"Thanos being the number one threat," she agreed, adding, "but, Loki, I vow that we'll see him dead before he kills either of us." He withdrew from her and walked away from her. With his back to her, she continued, "We just need to think of a way to kill him first."

"You are no soldier," he argued.

Jane moved in front of him, facing him directly, "I may not be a soldier, but my curiosity and determination has carried me well so far."

"I doubt meeting anyone from Asgard ever served you well," he countered.

Crossing her arms, Jane scrunched her brows, "I never said I was lucky."

"That you are most certainly not."

"Are you able to promise me something?"

Loki eased in his stance, "I shall certainly try."

Jane stepped once toward him. "If something happens..to me: I die, we separate. Anything. I need to know that you'll remember me. I want you to keep me with you wherever you go."

His features darkened, "Jane, I'm unable to-"

"I know! But for my sake, can you try? I want to be the reason you live through this."

"Do you know what you are asking?" he blurted.

Jane held out her hand, and he took it roughly. "Loki, I know what I'm asking. But I want to die knowing there's a chance that you can be good. Just because I will die doesn't mean we can't see each other again somewhere."

His eyes narrowed as they melted in the pools of hot tears burning them, "H-h-how do you know you will die? What have you seen?"

"It's obvious how it ends. I'm a mortal. Human. I'm bound to die someday soon. I'm unable to live a life as long as yours."

The Asgardian glanced away, "Oh."

"Just 'Oh,' huh?" Jane retorted. The end syllable suggested suspicion. "What do you know, Loki?"

Heavy lids covered his eyes as he walked past her in order to sit in a chair off in the right side of the large lab space. His hands nursed his temples; his fingers rubbed roughly over his skin. He groaned and eventually met her gaze from the distance he put between them.

And then he said nothing.

And that was when Jane knew something was wrong.

The mortal rushed to him and lowered her body over his sitting form. Her hands clutched the arm rests. "Now, Loki!"

He faded away, green capturing his body and translucently shifting it until it was gone. "Shit!" she shouted. In a fit of anger, her feet kicked the chair, causing it to topple over. "Where are you, Loki?!"

"You said you trusted me!" he spat.

Jane laughed, unbelieving. "You've never given me a reason not to. Not so far. Just-" she replied nervously. "Just tell me what's going on!"

A hand fell onto her shoulder, but the touch was as frosty as ice. When she turned around, Loki caught her chin and lowered his lips to hers, but in the haste of the moment, Jane was able to catch a glimpse of Loki's bright cobalt skin. Although her gut told her to back away, the gentle movement of his mouth over hers steadied her unease.

Until he opened his eyes.

They were bright, thirsty red. Almost a deep orange hue. And they were frightening.

Strength gathered at her hands to push him away. Immediately, she moved so that she faced a window. Her hand clutched at her rapidly deteriorating heartbeat. Her eyes looked in every direction, but her nerves sped through her veins and over her bones at an unbearable rate. Her breaths became labored.

And she finally collapsed, her knees giving out. Her back slid down the glass and her hands moved over the side of her face, sliding back into her hair. Her fingers tightly grasped the long brown locks while she shook.

"You see what I am now, mortal!" he wailed. When he roared with anger, Jane flinched. He grabbed her arm and reached for her jaw, dragging her head so that she saw him illuminated by the artificial moonlight. His eyes contained hell itself. He knelt down so that he was nearly on the same level as her shaking form. He was crying. His chest heaved dramatically.

"This is what I was told to fear...my whole life. Frost Giants were to be feared as monsters, my mother always said. Odin taught us to kill them, as he was a Jotun slayer to be feared," he stammered.

When she said nothing in reply, he bellowed. The sound was injected with thirty decibels of pain and agony and suffering. "My touch would kill you. Your body would turn to ice and all I would need to do is hit your mortal form to break you into thousands of tiny shards."

His naked hands slid down her arm until it reached bare skin. He shot a desperate, pleading look up to her. Her fearful eyes held his violent hues. Then, she spared a quick look down at where they were joined. Her arm was not being harmed. "What does this mean?"

His skin turned back into his normal pale color, and his eyes shifted back to the gray-blue-green irises she admired. Yet she remained crouched down and huddled within herself. Like a child.

"Forgive me, Jane."

Her mouth opened, but the words were slow to follow, "For what?"

His shoulders quaked and he pulled her into his arms as he leaned back. Her arms remained cradling her own chest in the movement. The atmosphere around them changed, but the image of the lab remained. She felt like she was floating. Somewhere.

Loki's left arm wrapped around her lower back as his right arm curled under her arm and wrapped around her upper back. He held her so tightly she thought he forgot she was mortal. As soon as he heard her breathing alter in an odd way, he released some of the pressure so that she wasn't uncomfortable anymore.

"I do not know where our connection originates from. I have no way of knowing why it was you it chose for me or me for you," he started. His face moved closer to her neck, but his lips raised so that his mouth was next to her ear. Heat resonated through her body when he reached his tongue out and began to suckle on her ear lobe.

Then, the sensation was gone.

"I do know that I've had to keep my magic focused mostly on you for weeks now."

"Why?"

As he released a breath, her skin tightened as it glided over into her hair. "What you just saw me as...you now are."

Her world stopped. "I'm a Frost Giant now?"

"Whether you are or not, you appear as such. I have not fully found out how it happened...or why. But you are no longer a mortal. You may still cling to your humanity, but I doubt you are the same as you were prior to our meeting."

Her head spun, but she needed to quickly think of something to calm her down before she lost her mind. "This is fine. It's fine. If we can figure this out, we can use it to our advantage," she struggled.

He said nothing.

A loud ringing ignited in her ears. The disturbance was quickly thwarted when Loki touched her cheek. "How do you know I am one?"

"When we first arrived on the helicarrier, I left to seek out the Tesseract. You were asleep, of course. I do not require much rest. My body accommodated a lack thereof long ago when I first left Asgard. I did not locate it, but when I came back to your room, your whole form mirrored the monster I really am," he jabbered.

"Ok. Ok. I'm not going to panic. I'm not going to freak out. I'm handling this in a rational, methodical manner," she chanted. After taking a deep breath, Jane looked up to him, "All the times people commented about me feeling cold. I made excuses because I didn't know what else to say or where its source was from, but I guess it all comes together now. At least a little bit."

The god of mischief leaned his head against the glass and said nothing.

Silence fell over them, blanketing them.

But Jane always did hate awkward silences.

"Do you really think you're a monster?" Jane asked. "I feel like you only say these things to convince yourself you are."

His eyes appeared so abrasive, defensive. "I would prefer we not talk about that."

Her head drew back. "Why the secrets? What benefits are there to keep them bottled up?"

"My secrets are hardly bottled up," he retorted.

If circumstances were different, Jane would have possibly laughed, "It's an expression...it means that you keep your secrets so hidden away. It'll help if you did talk about them."

Loki sighed, "I am unaware of confiding my every last secret to you, to anyone. Our connection has profoundly affected me in many ways, but I cannot open that part of my life to anyone. Not yet."

"If ever," she snapped. This time, she did laugh. "Loki, I've seen some of the atrocities you've experienced. With my own eyes."

Although the moment increasingly became one-sided, Jane decided to drop the matter for now. "Whatever has happened, Loki, we'll figure it out together."

He only shook his head. Followed by an, "I'm so sorry."

She bit her lip. "When my device broke open the wormhole back in Alaska, someone caused that. When I realized what was going on, I ran down to the basement to try and fix it, but someone past me and hurt me before I could. It was dark, so I don't know who it was."

"Why have you not told me that?" he idly replied. He sounded exhausted.

After she closed her eyes and leaned into him, her arms enclosed around him. "I didn't know I could trust you. I still am hesitant to, but something tells me I can. That could be a side effect of the connection, but we need to find the person who is responsible for all of this. I don't know where else we can start."

"Where shall we begin?" he inquired quickly.

"First," she stated, "we'll need to locate where the Tesseract and the scepter are. SHIELD probably has them. Most likely somewhere heavily guarded."

"That may be easier than expected. Our number grow by one," he commented.

Jane waited for him to elaborate, but he never did. So, she asked, "What do you mean?"

He raised a brow, "You really cannot speculate as to whom I refer?"

He gave her a headache! Insufferable, intolerable...wait! "Natasha?" she insisted. "But how? Won't she tell someone?"

"I believe I struck a fair agreement with her. She will assist us with this. And if she doesn't..."

Jane pointed her index finger at him, "Don't even think about it."

He shrugged idly, "It could be a useful advantage. The scepter was highly fun to utilize, too."

"That's not even funny, Loki. You don't have to forget that it was my mentor you controlled to do your bidding," she countered.

He smiled, "To which you have, on so many occasions, admitted your envy."

The human narrowed her eyes, "Envy is so not the right word."

"Isn't it?"

"Curiosity," she corrected.

"Ah," he replied. "I see."

All of a sudden, Jane's eyes withered away as if something snapped into her brain. "Where exactly is Erik. He was there at the lodge, and I just assumed he was working with SHIELD at that point. If that were true, though, wouldn't he be here?"

He wasn't given time to reply.

"But I haven't seen him in the few weeks we've been here. To be honest, my mind was bursting at the seams with this connection and the wormhole business. I haven't had the time to think about him," she confessed.

"Perhaps he is detained elsewhere."

"No," Jane asserted, "He wouldn't have a reason to be anywhere. At least...not that I know of."

Jane turned her head to him, but he leaned his head against the glass and sighed. His eyes relaxed. It was obvious he didn't care about Erik or the fact that he could be in trouble. Again.

"Do you have anything to say?"

Loki uncomfortably smiled. "There are a plethora of idle things I could say, but none of them would aid your worries or concerns," he countered.

Jane shook her head, "I need comfort or reassurance or a strategy of some kind. You offer nothing."

His eyes closed, and he sighed heavily, "I am not able to comfort anyone in a meaningful way."

"What about me? For-forget about everyone else right now, Loki," Jane rushed, taking his hand, thus catching his attention again. As his eyes opened, "Am I just anyone to you?"

After swallowing hesitantly, he brought the back of her hand to his lips. He quickly kissed her fingertips and said, "You know you are not."

Loki began to stand, and he pulled her up with him. He turned so that her back was against the glass now. Her eyes began welling up, but the moisture did not release from her tense dark eyes. "What am I to you?"

She watched him as he carefully...meticulously thought about what he would say, "In a time when we both could not afford to be distracted..." He coughed. Taking a deep breath, he glanced down at her with what she considered to be a small, faint smile, "More."

When silence settled over them, Jane broke it by chuckling lowly.

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To be continued...

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Until next time! Please review! (:


	12. Chapter 12

**For this chapter, a basic understanding/quick google about characters (no mention to avoid spoilers) may be helpful if you have trouble filling in blanks occasionally.**

**Thanks!**

**— — — — — — — — — — — —**

Dark Paradise by Lana Del Rey

And there's no remedy for memory, your face is like a melody,  
It won't leave my head; your soul is haunting me  
And telling me that everything is fine; but I wish I was dead—dead like you.

Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise  
No one compares to you. I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side.

There's no relief; I see you in my sleep.  
And everybody's rushing me, but I can feel you touching me  
There's no release; I feel you in my dreams telling me I'm fine.

Every time I close my eyes it's like a dark paradise  
No one compares to you. I'm scared that you won't be waiting on the other side.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

**Chapter 12**

Jane furiously jabbed the holographic keyboard while she bit her lip lightly. Her brow hung low on her features as she sifted through the information. Although happier than most days, the astrophysicist dove into her research.

Erik was somewhere, yet nowhere to be found.

And she needed him to bounce off her ideas with. Darcy at the least, but Fury had made it abundantly clear that bringing her aboard now wouldn't be wise for her intern's safety.

But they were all running out of time.

While tucked safely in Loki's arms last night, voices roused her into a restless slumber. They screeched across her mind, saying things roughly along the lines of knowing where she was, knowing her increasingly problematic feelings for whom they referred to as a monster. The voices guided her through a tour of horrific images: Loki cold in her arms, Thor brutally beaten and lame on the ground, the Avengers tortured beyond repair.

These were all the things she would stop.

If only someone threw her a bone!

"Damn it all to hell!" she spewed as (once again) the system rejected her into the system. Loki had changed into some woman SHIELD worker in order to entice information out of a man. But apparently, SHIELD was actually wise and separated information by levels or something.

The sliding hydraulic door opened, but Jane hardly paid the disturbance any mind. "Jane Foster," Natasha Romanoff commented while walking through the threshold into the laboratory, "what could you possibly be up to?"

"Agent Romanoff," Jane greeted curtly, "I'm glad to see that you're well again."

The agent chuckled as she took the time to lean against the bright white wall nearest to the entryway. The door slid closed, which she instantly locked from within. "I'm wondering why you would be here when there's no direct orders giving you reason to be here."

"Although I didn't ask, I'm glad you're able to keep tabs on harmless individuals who are only trying to further the world of science," she retorted.

Jane cursed again and turned her back to the SHIELD agent. Her fingers frantically flipped the pages of an older book. It only took her ten seconds to locate the needed information. With a sigh of frustration, the scientist bobbled on her toes in anxiety.

"I'll only ask you one more time, Dr. Foster. Why are you here?" Romanoff added a bit more forcefully.

When Jane's body hunched over the table, her attention withered away from reality just a bit, but she still replied, "Natasha, I know we have a common ally...of sorts."

A tense, strained growl left the agent's mouth, "Ally? Not quite."

"Are there any sensors or cameras in here that will make working problematic?" Dr. Foster quickly replied.

"While the labs are bugged, I've already taken precautionary measures to ensure our work here will go undisturbed."

"How?"

Footsteps sounded off behind Jane. Romanoff walked right up to Jane's side, turning around promptly and crossing her arms. "I've transferred old footage to this lab."

"Good," Jane retorted as her eyes finished scanning the pages. "I wish I had Erik's mind at my disposal right now. Hell, even Darcy would be more useful than anyone right now."

Jane straightened her posture and turned around to view the holographic computer. Her eyes narrowed, "Do you know of a way to bypass SHIELD's level requirement regarding the Tesseract?"

"What do you want with the Cube?" Agent Romanoff required.

Dr. Foster threw the book onto the table and paced back and forth, "How is Yuri Ivanov still alive? What purpose does he have with my equipment? Who followed me all the way to Alaska? On what scale will this all turn out to be? Why open more wormholes? What purpose does any of this serve?"

"You're asking a lot of questions that have little to no merit. We haven't had any sighting by anyone going by that name. There's no way he could still be alive. He'd have to be like Steve or something," Natasha told her.

Jane shook her head, "You don't get it. No one gets it." Her pacing stopped as Jane rushed over to the agent in order to grab her by her shoulders. The scientist's eyes looked in all directions while she searched for the words she needed to say, "What if the wormholes aren't just gateways to other worlds, but to different dimensions, too?"

Natasha pulled herself away from her, "I think you're sounding exactly how Dr. Selvig did when he came through from Loki's possession."

"Of course you do, which is why I need someone competent with the way I theorize here."

In an effort to still her patience, Agent Romanoff shook her head again, "Let's say, for now, we go with your theory. What then?"

"The effects of opening these holes would be catastrophic to say the least. The Tesseract is vital to sustaining the wormholes, but so much more, too," Jane began to explain, "Think about the potential this has on not only a global scale, but a universal scale. We're not after Yuri. We're not after whoever opened up the hole in Alaska. We're after someone who has access to power more potent than the Tesseract."

"You're not making sense."

"I know I'm not. Just help me, please!"

Romanoff swallowed, "I don't know if I should."

Jane's eyes saturated dully. She stepped away from the agent and went back to trying to log in to the system, "Then you should go. You're wasting my time."

As the system rejected the information again, Natasha sighed. "Jane," the agent hesitantly started, "No matter how much you want to, you'll never be able to save everyone."

When the scientist's eyes widened, her pupils dilated, pulsating between wide to narrow. Her lids narrowed to guard the collecting moisture. "I'm not doing this to save anyone."

Natasha pushed Jane away from the holographic monitor. "Then why are you doing this?"

Jane's eyes fiercely battled against Natasha's soft gaze. Words would not escape unless they were precise, calculated. "To erase my mistakes."

And, knowing exactly what she meant...how she felt...Natasha pushed Jane out of her way. She inputed a user ID and a password, which bypassed the log in altogether.

The information prompted hidden access files that were dated recently. "If you want to hack into the system, it's best if you let someone who does it on a regular basis do it for you."

Jane laughed, "What did you do? How did you-"

"It's a ghost file. I designed it with the help of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts a few weeks ago. It turns out SHIELD was designing mass nuclear weapons to combat the other worlds as a means of defense. I didn't sign up with mass murdering other planets throughout the universe. Fury kept us all in the dark, which I'm sure you know already. This account is meant for uncovering any hidden motifs without raising any brows," Natasha briefed.

Jane huddled by her in order to fish out any information.

"Where is he, by the way?"

"Who?"

"You know who..."

"You'll need to be a bit more specific."

Natasha paused and looked at Jane irritably. Jane rolled her eyes and sighed, "Loki is searching every last corridor for the Tesseract. He believes it is closer than we think."

"You think it's best the monster who nearly obliterated New York searches?" Natasha countered.

Jane scoffed, "Why do you ask? I'd like to see you turn yourself into someone else or disguise yourself so no one else detects you."

"Be that as it may, you know of his history with the Cube."

Jane shook her head, "I'm sorry you don't approve of what is the most logical option for us."

"I am a trained strategist and skilled assassin," she coldly told her, "It would have been nice to be included in the plans, since he involved me."

A loud huff came from Jane's smaller form, "Correction: he saved you."

"Ahh," a masculine drawl dramatized, "It is a pleasure to see we all get along."

Jane instantly glanced up, but, in an effort to stifle the need to be near him, remained where she was, "Did you find it, Loki?"

"Not at present."

"Quite the shame," Natasha feigned. The agent scrolled through more files.

"WAIT!" Jane shouted. "Go back!"

When Natasha lifted her hand back up, she dragged a video filed under a date occurring less than a week ago. The agent scrunched her brows and leaned in, "Good eye, Foster."

"I'm not entirely useless, despite the common opinion."

Natasha smirked; however, the grin was replaced by a frown. "What is Agent Sitwell doing here?"

"Who?"

The agent's eyes narrowed and immediately, she tightened her fists, "He's an agent not previously assigned to this helicarrier. Last I heard is that he was assigned to an elite task force in an effort to research the Chitauri's origins and biology."

"Maybe he's here with news?"

Natasha appeared doubtful. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, quickly opening them.

In the next few seconds, all three of them saw Agent Sitwell enter the receiving deck of the helicarrier with a large crate followed by a medium-sized posse. About eight people. Natasha recognized six of the individuals. Five lower-leveled agents and Erik Selvig. The other two were unknown.

"Darcy!"

The guards walking toward the eight were deterred by the agents as they fought against each other in a quick exchange. When the four agents were bested, Agent Sitwell halted and pointed toward the crate. Immediately, it was opened by another agent nearby. The man reached in and withdrew the same scepter Loki had used in New York.

"Holy Shit..." Agent Romanoff cursed.

"Oh, my god..." Jane added in shock.

Loki smirked, "Hello, friend."

"The Tesseract is here," Jane stressed. "This footage is a few days old. How did no one know of this?"

Natasha swallowed, "It was in the restricted section of the hidden database. But I don't understand."

Jane grabbed her arm roughly, "What could you possibly not understand?"

The agent's eyes were wide with confusion, "Only three people know of this database. Tony, Pepper, and me."

"Pepper. It's Pepper," Jane sighed. "They have Erik and Darcy. Who knows what they've been doing."

"I agree with you. Tony has been normal. Plus he's been in and out of this helicarrier following Director Fury's demands," Natasha replied.

Both women looked at Loki.

His smile faded, "What?"

"He can't go anywhere near the Cube."

Jane shook her head, "I need him to help me find Erik and Darcy."

"And they'll be near the Tesseract."

Jane's eyes grew darker. "This isn't necessary! We need to prioritize a bit."

Natasha moved closer to Jane and looked down at her, "The first priority is still the Tesseract. I will protect it from him and his kind with my life. I've seen what it's capable of."

"I'm not having this conversation as if he's not here, Natasha."

Anger pierced through the agent's gaze. "Perhaps I'll consort with people who will listen to reason," she threatened. "This ends now."

"No!"

A tilt disrupted an otherwise intense and focused expression over Natasha's features. "Let me ask you something Loki."

"I don't see how that would help," he quipped.

When she walked up close to him, she grabbed him by the collar of his attire, pulling him down to her, "When this little game of yours ends and the time comes to save Jane, will you choose to run like you did back in New York, or are you prepared to surrender the very life you protect so viciously?"

His playful, arrogant grin fell into a quiet state of melancholy. With hardened eyes, he shut his mouth, sealing it into a tight, thin line.

"Nevermind that."

Natasha tilted her head, crossing her arms over her chest as her fingers meticulously tapped against her black attire. "Why not let him answer? Isn't the answer what you want?"

"I want to take control of this before-"

The room shook. The bright, white lights turned off completely, and red lights replaced the glow of the bulbs. An alarm sounded throughout the sector of the helicarrier.

When the three stabilized, Loki rushed toward Jane and took her in his arms. His protective embrace sent a wave of calm through Jane.

Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. He nodded.

An unspoken agreement. To what, they both left undiscovered.

"-something happens."

Immediately, Natasha took charge of the moment by drawing her guns. "The ship is under attack. We need to get to the others."

"What about-"

"Bruce will be taken care of," the agent said. Turning, she ordered, "We need to move."

The door opened. "Already a step ahead of you. Don't explain anything to me now. HYDRA has risen and has taken over this vessel," Steve gravely announced.

Natasha rushed toward her comrade and they walked out of the labs.

Jane followed, prying herself away from Loki. "What do you mean-"

"Jane Foster, you don't get to ask questions. You also have a lot to answer for," Steve interrupted. "We need to find the others."

Steve pulled his shield and slide his arm in the stays. Natasha cocked her guns and cracked her neck. Loki lingered closely to Jane, his presence on high alert.

The two Avengers began to jog, transitioning into a sprint. Loki had no trouble keeping up the pace, but he chose to remain at Jane's side.

The red lights continued to flash through the halls they trekked.

As they ran, Jane began hearing a quiet buzz in her ears. Suddenly, time slowed down. Red now lingered for exactly ten seconds, while the bright flash lasted for five. Noises meshed together until all went silent.

A voice whispered in her ear as if behind, but when she glanced over her shoulder, there was no one. As her attention switched back to the party, she saw a female clad in black leather and green skin dodging Natasha's bullets and another female with long, straight chestnut hair fighting with Steve.

Loki turned her to him and he shouted something, but his words were eaten by the silence and the slow purr of the flow of moment. She stared at his mouth. He clearly spoke her name. The tight curve of his lips and the widening of his lips signaled such.

Jane turned to see Natasha succumb to the green woman. Steve dodged the other woman's arm. But when the arm was retracted, Jane's heart stilled.

Exact eye shape. Exact nose. Exact mouth. Exact face shape.

Different eye color. Different hair color by a few shades. Different softness in soul.

The copy stared after Jane through her bright green eyes. Her alter smiled wickedly as she sped up, breaking through Steve's control. She took him down quickly.

A tug pulled her away from the two assailants. Loki clasped his hands on Jane's jaw and pleaded for something unheard. Slowly, he turned from her and grasped her wrist, pulling her behind him.

But she didn't move.

She watched him shake his head. And vanish.

"JANE!" she heard Darcy cry as if from afar.

Jane turned toward the women taking the two Avengers in their custody.

"JANE!"

The mortal bolted, though everything remained blurred by the twist of time. Every step was delayed, every noise, every breath.

"JANE!"

"DARCY!" her voice echoed.

No looking back. Only looking forward.

The red lights drowned out the chaos around her. She chased the cries of her friend and dashed over bodies bloodied and still. She dodged a few agents fighting the betrayers.

And when she turned her head at the flash of a large red cape, Jane met Thor's eyes.

He had blood all over him. He was badly bruised. Agony etched its way into his irises. He breathed deeply, heavily. And when he reached out for her, she charged forward away from him.

Her chin redirected itself back to the path before her.

"JANE!"

"DARCY!" she called.

The wall beside her busted open. A large green arm emerged from the wreckage. Jane ducked in order to avoid the obtrusive appendage. After the monster moved on toward its prey, Jane pressed forth.

Suddenly, time righted itself. The slowness sped up nearly all at once. Her legs burned from their pace, but they would not surrender unless they brought her to Darcy.

As she rounded a corner, she threw the door open, seeing stairs. Taking two at a time, Jane raced up the seven flights of stairs encased in the small stone-walled room.

"JANE!"

And when she opened the door, the sun rays burned her eyes. When her eyes focused beyond the clashing rays, her eyes feasted on Darcy held by an unknown human who appeared to be an agent of SHIELD.

Tentatively, she rushed out of the dark threshold and ran to the center of the deck. The wind picked up violently, but she held her ground. "Darcy!"

"No! Run away, Jane! They'll kill you!" the raven haired assistant ordered before the man punched her in the stomach.

"Leave her alone!" Jane demanded.

When Jane was about to run to her, a rapid buzzing brought her to her knees. She winced and cried out in pain, but, suddenly, the mouse was gone. Jane shook, trembling in the aftermath of the tremors. When she glanced up, she was at the feet of a large, dark blue-skinned being.

Instantly, she knew who it was.

"Thanos."

**To be continued...**

**Until next time! Please review! (:**


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